HC Deb 19 March 1894 vol 22 cc577-8
MR. GILHOOLY (Cork Co., W.)

I bog to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether tenant farmers in Ireland holding by lease, who desire to obtain a loan from the Board of Public Works for the improvement of their holdings, are required to register their leases and lodge them at the Office of Public Works; and, if so, when this rule came into operation?

SIR J. T. HIBBERT

Tenants holding by lease must satisfy the Board of Works, on application for loans from the Board of Public Works, of the registration of their leases when the latter are within the Registration of Deeds Act, 6 Anne, c. 2. Such leases require to be registered in order to give them validity, and to render loans made upon them secure. The leases have in all eases to be submitted to the solicitors of the Board of Works with a, view to the examination of the title—a requirement insisted on by all lenders on the security of leaseholds. The Rule of the Board respecting registration and lodgment of lease has always been in force as regards loans to lessees under the Land Improvement Act, 10 Vict. c. 32, and has since 1884 been enforced on applications for loans by tenants under the Land Law Act of 1881.

MR. GILHOOLY

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether a tenant farmer in Ireland whose tenure is leasehold, and who has a valuable interest in his holding, can obtain a loan for its improvement to an extent of five times the Poor Law valuation of the holding?

SIR J. T. HIBBERT

I am informed that a tenant farmer in Ireland whose tenure is leasehold can obtain a loan under the Land Improvement Act, 10 Vict. c. 32, to the extent of seven times the Poor Law valuation of his holding if he has an unexpired term of 40 years. If he holds for two lives or for an unexpired term of 25 years he can obtain a loan to the same extent, provided he furnishes satisfactory collateral security for its repayment. In the absence of such collateral security no loan can be made to him under the Land Improvement Act. A leaseholder whose tenure is less than two lives or 25 years unexpired can borrow under the Land Law Act of 1881, to the extent of five times the valuation, if he offers satisfactory collateral security, or if his landlord postpones the rent to the Board's loan, or if the rent of the holding is virtually nominal.