HC Deb 28 July 1896 vol 43 cc895-9

(1.) For the purpose of an application to fix a fair rent, the tenant of a holding shall be deemed to he in bonâ fide occupation thereof notwithstanding—

  1. (a) that any dwelling-house on the holding, not being the dwelling of the tenant, and not having been erected by the tenant in breach of his contract of tenancy or of a statutory condition, is sub-let to or in the occupation of another person; or
  2. (b) that any other part of the holding is, otherwise than in breach of the contract of tenancy, or of a statutory condition, sub-let to or in the occupation of another person, if in the estimation of the court a part not less than seven-eighths or thereabouts in value of the holding, excluding from such value the value of any buildings erected by the tenant, remains in the bonâ fide occupation of the tenant; and if the sub-letting was made before the passing of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, or was substantially in substitution for a letting existing at that date;
Provided that this enactment shall not apply unless the court think it reasonable to entertain the application having regard to the acreage of the holding and to any other matter which they think should be taken into consideration, and the court may entertain the application notwithstanding that any such house or part of a holding is occupied by a person to whom it has been sub-let in contravention of Section 2 of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881.

(2.) Where a part of the property held under one demise is sub-let, and the property was let to the tenant subject to the tenancy of some other person in the part sub-let, the court may direct that the part so sub-let shall thenceforth be, or if it is an incorporeal hereditament be treated as, a separate holding, and shall be held during the continuance of the tenancy at such rent as the court determine to be the proper proportion of the rent reserved by the demise, and the court may fix a fair rent for the remainder of the property held under the demise, and the Land Law Acts as amended by this Act shall apply to that remainder, as if it were a separate holding;

Provided that, if the landlord so elect, the court shall order that the tenant of the part so sub-let shall be the tenant of such landlord as his immediate landlord.

MR. MAURICE HEALY moved, in Sub-section (1) to leave out the words "an application to fix a fair rent," and to insert instead thereof the words "the Land Law Acts."

Amendment agreed to.

MR. MAURICE HEALY moved, in paragraph (a) Sub-section (1) to leave out the words "of the tenant," and to insert instead thereof the words "in which the tenant for the time being resides."

Amendment agreed to.

*SIR JOHN COLOMB moved, in paragraph (a), Sub-section (1), after the word "person," to insert:— (unless it be shown that such sub-letting was made by the tenant for the purpose of making a profit by the sub-letting, or not solely for the due cultivation of his holding). He referred to the case of a tenant who had another dwelling-house on the holding and who let it for lodgings or as an hotel, and yet claimed to have a fair rent fixed as an agricutural tenant. [SEVERAL IRISH MEMBERS: "Why not?"] Was it just or right that he should be allowed to do so? This other house should be in the occupation of some one employed necessarily on the holding; and the tenant letting another house on his holding for profit should not have a fair rent fixed if he was letting it at a profit.

MR. GERALD BALFOUB

said it was impossible for the Government to accept the Amendment. The clause had been put into its present shape in order to meet a recognised grievance. Where there was a house or houses on the holdings not let in breach of the contract, and it was proposed to sub-let to a mill-hand for example, that was a case which they wished to provide for in this section.

Amendment negatived.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR moved, in Sub-section (1), to leave out the words "this enactment," and to insert instead thereof— (i.) for the purpose of the foregoing provisions of this Section, a breach of the contract of tenancy shall not be deemed to have taken place if the landlord waived such breach; (ii.) the foregoing provisions of this section. He said the Amendment was introduced in pursuance of his undertaking to consider a recommendation made by the hon. Member for Cork City. If this Amendment was not inserted, the effect would be that, if a breach of tenancy had taken place and was afterwards condoned by the landlord, it would, nevertheless, not be possible for the tenant to take advantage of this section. The Government thought that would be a great hardship. They could not, however, go so far as the Amendment of the hon. Member for Cork, which stood next on the Paper.

MR. T. M. HEALY

said he preferred his own Amendment, but, as the right hon. Gentleman had endeavoured to meet him, he accepted the Amendment.

Amendment agreed to.

MR. MAURICE HEALY moved, at the end of Sub section (1), to insert:— For the purposes of the fifty-seventh Section of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, a portion of a holding sub-let shall he deemed to be sublet with the landlord's consent if the consent of the landlord or his agent shall be proved thereto, though given in a manner other than that prescribed in the contract of tenancy. He said the case he asked the right hon. Gentleman to consider was that of "Bowman v. Caterhill," which was decided under the present law. Under the Act of 1881 a tenant had to be in occupation of his holding before he could have a fair rent fixed. There was, however, a proviso that, where he had sub-let part of his holding with the consent of his landlord, ha should be deemed to be in occupation. Of course the courts in Ireland held that the landlord must have consented in the manner prescribed by the instrument of tenancy. All he sought to do was to apply the principle of the right hon. Gentleman's Amendment to the general law under the Act of 1881, and he thought the Attorney General would admit that unless that were done the case to which he had referred would still remain law.

MR. SMITH-BARRY

objected to the Amendment.

* MR. SERJEANT HEMPHILL

said that the object of the Amendment was to meet cases where the Acts required the landlord's consent to be in writing, and the consent had been given verbally.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

said that in his opinion the object of the Amendment was fully attained by the Amendment which had just been agreed to.

MR. MAURICE HEALY

pointed out that, under the existing law, even where the landlord admitted that he had consented verbally to the sub-letting of the holding, the tenant was not protected by the consent because it was not in writing.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOE IRELAND

said that in his view the hon. Member's object would be carried into effect by the Amendment of the right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland, which had just been agreed to.

Amendment negatived.

MR. MAURICE HEALY moved at the end of the clause to add:— The sub-letting of any such dwelling-house as is referred to in Sub-section 1 (a) of this Section during the continuance of a statutory term or after its expiration shall not be deemed to He a breach of any statutory condition, nor shall the second Section of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, apply to any such sub-letting, whether made before or after the passing of this Act.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 6,—