HL Deb 06 August 1896 vol 43 cc1638-43

(1.) For the purpose of the Land Law Acts the tenant of a holding shall be deemed to be in bona fide occupation thereof not withstanding—

  1. (a) that any dwelling-house on the holding, not being the dwelling in which the tenant for the time being resides, and not having been erected by the tenant in breach of his contract 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-eights or there abouts in value of the holding, excluding from such value the value of any buildings erected by the tenant, remains in the bona 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—

  1. (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;
  2. (ii) the foregoing provisions of this section 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 two 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, in any case to which Sub-section one of this section docs not apply, direct that the part so sub-let shall thenceforth be, or if it is an incorporeal hereditament, be treated as, a separate holding, and (unless the application to the Court is made on the expiration of a lease) that same shall be hold 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, in any case to which this subsection applies, order that the tenant of the part so sub-let shall be the tenant of such landlord as his immediate landlord. (3.) The sub-letting of any such dwelling-house as is referred to in Sub-section one (a) of this section during the continuance of a statutory term or after its expiration shall not be deemed to be a breach of any statutory condition, nor shall the Second section of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, apply to any such subletting, whether made before or after the passing of this Act.

THE EARL OF ARRAN

said that he would withdraw the Amendments to Clause 6 standing in his name, as a point had arisen in reference to town parks, which he confessed he did not understand. He would bring the matter up on the Report Stage.

VISCOUNT DE VESCI moved in Paragraph (b) Sub-section (1) to leave out the words— 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 noble Lord said that his object was to secure, if possible, that there should be no contravention of the object of the Act of 1881, which provided that there should be no sub-letting without the permission of the landlord in writing. That Act provided also that sub-letting might be permitted in so far as it was for the use of labourers bonâ fide employed or required for the cultivation of a holding, and there was a further provision that there should be no trivial sub-letting. He should be very glad if the noble Marquess would explain how they arrived at the rather arbitrary distinction of value. He thought they would agree with him that one acre plots were amply sufficient for the purposes of sub-letting. He hoped the hon. Gentleman would accept his Amendment.

* THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

said that there was an objection to laying down a hard and fast rule as to sub-letting, and he should prefer to leave the matter, as it was dealt with in the second proviso at the foot of the page, under which the Court was not to permit sub-letting unless it thinks that it was reasonable, having regard to the acreage of the holding. That appeared to be an intimation to the Court that the extent of the sub-letting was to be regulated by the particular circumstances of the case.

LORD DE VESCI

said that he wished to remind the noble Marquess that under the Act of 1887, sub-letting was only to be permitted for the accommodation of the labourers on the holding. That Act did not contemplate the sub-letting of 10 acres out of a farm of 80 acres. At all events no single sub-letting ought to exceed an acre in extent.

Amendment agreed to.

LORD DE VESCI moved in Paragraph (b) Sub-section (1), after "1887, or," to insert the words "if it."

Amendment agreed to.

LORD DE VESCI moved in the end of Paragraph (b) Sub-section (1), after the word "date" to insert the words provided that the amount of land so sub-let shall not exceed one-eighth of the holding, nor one statute acre for each house or allotment, nor five acres in the aggregate.

Amendment agreed to.

THE DUKE OF ABERCORN moved to insert an Amendment providing that the receipt of rent by a landlord after a sub-letting should not be deemed consent to the sub-letting.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clause 6, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 7,—