[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
	Statutes of Northern Ireland
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Statutes of Northern Ireland >> URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/lata1870233.txt

[New search] [Help]

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend the Law relating to the Occupation and Ownership
of Land in Ireland.{1}
[1st August 1870]
Preamble rep. by SLR 1893 (No.2)

Legality of Ulster tenant-right custom.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 1

1. The usages prevalent in the province of Ulster, which are known
as, and in this Act intended to be included under, the denomination
of the Ulster tenant-right custom, are hereby declared to be legal,
and shall, in the case of any holding in the province of Ulster
proved to be subject thereto, be enforced in manner provided by
this Act.

Where the landlord has purchased or acquired or shall hereafter
purchase or acquire from the tenant the Ulster tenant-right custom
to which his holding is subject, such holding shall thenceforth
cease to be subject to the Ulster tenant-right custom.

A tenant of a holding subject to the Ulster tenant-right custom,
and who claims the benefit of such custom, shall not be entitled
to compensation under any other section of this Act; but a tenant
of a holding subject to such custom, but not claiming under the
same, shall not be barred from making a claim for compensation,
with the consent of the Court, under any of the other sections of
this Act, except the section relating to compensation in respect of
payment to incoming tenant; and where such last-mentioned claim has
been made, and allowed, such holding shall not be again subject to
the Ulster tenant-right custom.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 3
Compensation in absence of custom.

3. Where the tenant of any holding held by him under a tenancy
created after the passing of this Act is not entitled to
compensation under sections one and two of this Act, or either of
such sections, or if entitled does not seek compensation under said
sections or either of them, and is disturbed in his holding by the
act of the landlord, he shall be entitled to such compensation ...
to be paid by the landlord, as the Court may think just, ....

Provisions relating to scale of compensation rep. by 1881 c.49 s.6
which substitutes other provisions

Provided that

(1)Out of any moneys payable to the tenant under this section all
sums due to the landlord from the tenant or his predecessors in
title in respect of rent, or in respect of any deterioration of a
holding arising from non-observance on the part of the tenant of
any express or implied covenant or agreement, may be deducted by
the landlord, and also any taxes payable by the tenant due in
respect of the holding, and not recoverable by him from the
landlord:

(2)A tenant of a holding who at any time after the passing of
this Act subdivides such holding, or sublets the same or any part
thereof without the consent of the landlord in writing, or, after
he has been prohibited in writing by the landlord or his agent
from so doing, lets the same or any part thereof in conacre, save
for the purpose of being solely used and which shall be solely
used for the growing of potatoes or other green crops, the land
being properly manured, shall not, nor shall any sub-tenant of or
under any such tenant as last aforesaid, be entitled to any
compensation under this section:

(3)A tenant of a holding under a lease made after the passing of
this Act, and granted for a term certain of not less than
thirty-one years, shall not be entitled to any compensation under
this section, but he may claim compensation under section four of
this Act.

...

Compensation in respect of improvements.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 4

4. Any tenant of a holding who is not entitled to compensation
under sections one and two of this Act, or either of such
sections, or if entitled does not make any claim under the said
sections, or either of them, may on quitting his holding, and
subject to the provisions of section three of this Act, claim
compensation to be paid by the landlord under this section in
respect of all improvements on his holding made by him or his
predecessors in title.

Provided that

Exception of certain improvements.

(1)A tenant shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect of
any of the improvements following; that is to say

(a)In respect of any improvement made before the passing of this
Act, and twenty years before the claim of such compensation shall
have been made, except permanent buildings and reclamation of waste
land; or,

(b)In respect of any improvement prohibited in writing by the
landlord as being and appearing to the Court to be calculated to
diminish the general value of the landlord's estate, and made within
two years after the passing of this Act, or made during the
unexpired residue of a lease granted before the passing of Act; or,

(c)In respect of any improvement made either before or after the
passing of this Act in pursuance of a contract entered into for
valuable consideration therefor; or,

(d)(Subject to the rule in this section mentioned as to contracts)
in respect of any improvement made, either before or after the
passing of this Act, in contravention of a contract in writing not
to make such improvement; or,

(e)In respect of any improvement made either before or after the
passing of this Act which the landlord has undertaken to make,
except in cases where the landlord has failed to perform his
undertaking within a reasonable time:(2)A tenant of a holding under
a lease or written contract made before the passing of this Act
shall not be entitled on being disturbed by the act of the
landlord in or on quitting his holding to any compensation in
respect of any improvement, his right to which compensation is
expressly excluded by such lease or contract:

(3)A tenant of a holding under a lease made either before or after
the passing of this Act for a term certain of not less than
thirty-one years, or in case of leases made before the passing of
this Act for a term of a life or lives with or without a
concurrent term of years, and which leases shall have existed for
thirty-one years before the making of the claim, shall not be
entitled to any compensation in respect of any improvement unless it
is specially provided in the lease that he is entitled to such
compensation, except permanent buildings and reclamation of waste
land, and tillages or manures, the benefit of which tillages or
manures is unexhausted at the time of the tenant quitting his
holding:

(4)A tenant of a holding, who is quitting the same voluntarily
shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect of any
improvement when it appears to the Court that such tenant has been
given permission by his landlord to dispose of his interest in his
improvements to an incoming tenant upon such terms as the Court may
deem reasonable, and the tenant has refused or neglected to avail
himself of such permission:

(5)Out of any moneys payable to the tenant under this section all
sums due to the landlord from the tenant or his predecessors in
title in respect of rent, or in respect of any deterioration of
the holding arising from non-observance on the part of the tenant
of any express or implied covenant or agreement, may be deducted by
the landlord, and also any taxes payable by the tenant due in
respect of the holding and not recoverable by him from the
landlord.

Any contract between a landlord and a tenant whereby the tenant is
prohibited from making such improvements as may be required for the
suitable occupation of his holding and its due cultivation shall be
void both at law and in equity, but no improvement shall be deemed
to be required for the suitable occupation of a tenant's holding
and its due cultivation which appears to the Court to diminish the
general value of the estate of the landlord, nor shall anything in
this Act contained authorize or empower any tenant or occupier,
without the previous consent in writing of the landlord, to break
up or till any land or lands usually let, occupied, or used as
grazing or grass lands, or let expressly as grazing or meadow land,
or to cut timber without the consent of the landlord; provided that
the tenant may cut timber planted and registered by him or his
predecessors in title.

Any contract made by a tenant by virtue of which he is deprived
of his right to make any claim which he would otherwise be
entitled to make under this section shall, so far as relates to
such claim, be void both at law and in equity, subject, however,
to the enactment contained in the section of this Act relating to
the partial exemption of certain tenancies, and to the provision in
this section as to any improvement made in pursuance of a contract
entered into for valuable consideration therefor.

Where a tenant has made any improvements before the passing of this
Act on a holding held by him under a tenancy existing at the time
of the passing thereof, the Court in awarding compensation to such
tenant in respect of such improvements shall, in reduction of the
claim of the tenant, take into consideration the time during which
such tenant may have enjoyed the advantage of such improvements,
also the rent at which such holding has been held, and any
benefits which such tenant may have received from his landlord in
consideration, expressly or impliedly, of the improvements so made.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 5
Presumption in respect of improvements.

5. For the purposes of compensation under this Act in respect of
improvements on a holding which is not proved to be subject either
to the Ulster tenant-right custom or to such usage as aforesaid, or
where the tenant does not seek compensation in respect of such
custom or usage, all improvements on such holding shall, until the
contrary is proved, be deemed to have been made by the tenant or
his predecessors in title, except in the following cases where
compensation is claimed in respect of improvements made before the
passing of this Act:

(1)Where such improvements have been made previous to the time at
which the holding in reference to which the claim is made was
conveyed on actual sale to the landlord or those through whom he
derives title:

(2)Where the tenant making the claim was tenant under a lease of
the holding in reference to which the claim is made:

(3)Where such improvements were made twenty years or upwards before
the passing of this Act:

(4)Where the holding upon which such improvements were made is
valued under the Acts relating to the valuation of rateable property
in Ireland at an annual value of more than one hundred pounds:

(5)Where the Court shall be of opinion that in consequence of its
being proved to have been the practice on the holding, or the
estate of which such holding forms part, for the landlord to make
such improvements, such presumption ought not to be made:

(6)Where from the entire circumstances of the case the Court is
reasonably satisfied that such improvements were not made by the
tenant or his predecessors in title:

Permissive registration of improvements.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 6

6. Any landlord or tenant who may be desirous of preserving
evidence of any improvements made by himself or by his predecessors
in title before or after the passing of this Act may at any time
(subject to the provisions herein-after contained) file a schedule in
the Landed Estates Court specifying such improvements, and claiming
the same as made by himself or his predecessors in title, and such
schedule so filed shall be prima facie evidence that such
improvements were made as therein mentioned: Provided always, that
notice in writing of the intention to file such schedule, together
with a copy thereof, shall be given by the landlord to the tenant
for the time being of the holding on which such improvements shall
have been made (or by the tenant to the landlord, as the case may
be,) within the prescribed time before applying to the Landed
Estates Court to file the same; and if the person receiving such
notice shall dispute the claim made by such schedule, either wholly
or in part, he shall be at liberty within the prescribed time and
in the prescribed manner to apply to the Civil Bill Court to
determine the matter in difference, and in such case such schedule
shall not be filed unless or until leave shall have been given to
file the same either in its original or in any amended form by
the Civil Bill Court; provided also, that before filing any such
schedule proof shall be made in the Landed Estates Court by
statutory declaration that the notice hereby required has been duly
given, and that no application has been made within the prescribed
time by the party receiving such notice to the Civil Bill Court,
or (if any such application has been made) that leave has been
given by the Civil Bill Court to file such schedule.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 7
Compensation in respect to payment to incoming tenant.

7. Where any tenant of a holding does not claim or has not
obtained compensation under section one, two, or three of this Act,
and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that any such
tenant or that his predecessors in title on coming into his holding
paid money or gave money's worth with the express or implied
consent of the landlord on account of his so coming into his
holding, the Court shall award to such tenant on quitting his
holding in respect of the sum so paid such compensation as it
thinks just, having regard to the circumstances of the case; but
such tenant shall not be entitled to any compensation under this
section when it appears to the Court that such tenant has been
given permission by the landlord to obtain such satisfaction from an
incoming tenant in respect of the money so paid, or the money's
worth so given by him, and on such terms as the Court may think
reasonable, and such tenant has refused or neglected to avail
himself of such permission; moreover where the money or money's
worth paid or given by any tenant claiming compensation under this
section on coming into his holding was paid or given in whole or
in part in respect or as covering the value of any improvements on
the holding, care shall be taken that such tenant shall not receive
compensation in respect of the same improvements under this section
and also under some other section of this Act; provided that out
of any moneys payable to the tenant under this section all sums
due to the landlord from the tenant or his predecessors in title
in respect of rent, or in respect of any deterioration of a
holding arising from non-observance on the part of the tenant of
any express or implied covenant or agreement, and also any taxes
payable by the tenant due in respect of the holding, and not
recoverable by him from the landlord, may, if not deducted under
the provisions of section four of this Act, be deducted by or on
behalf of the landlord: Provided always, that this section shall not
apply when such money or money's worth has been paid during the
existence of a lease made before the passing of this Act.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 8
Compensation in respect of crops.

8. Where a holding is proved to be subject to the Ulster
tenant-right custom or such usage as aforesaid, and where the tenant
claims under such custom or usage, and such custom or usage extends
to away-going crops, the compensation payable in respect of
away-going crops shall be dealt with according to the custom or
usage, but the tenant of every other holding, which is not proved
to be subject to the Ulster tenant-right custom or such usage as
aforesaid, or in respect of which no claim is made under such
custom or usage, shall, in the absence of any agreement in writing
to the contrary, on quitting his holding, be entitled to all his
away-going crops, or at the option of the landlord to be paid the
value of the same.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 9
Limitation as to disturbance in holding.

9. For the purposes of this Act, ejectment for non-payment of rent,
or for breach of any condition against asssignment, subletting,
bankruptcy, or insolvency, shall not be deemed disturbance of the
tenant by act of the landlord; and for the purposes of this Act a
person who is ejected for non-payment of rent, or for breach of
any such condition as aforesaid, and is not disturbed by act of
the landlord within the meaning of this Act, shall stand in the
same position in all respects as if he were quitting his holding
voluntarily; provided that in the case of a person claiming
compensation on the determination by ejectment for non-payment of
rent of a tenancy existing at the time of the passing of this
Act, and continuing to exist without alteration of rent up to the
time of such determination, the Court may, if it think fit, treat
such ejectment as a disturbance if the arrear of rent in respect
of which it is brought did not wholly accrue within the three
previous years, and if any earlier arrear remained due from the
tenant at the time of commencing the ejectment, or, if in case of
any such tenancy of a holding held at an annual rent not exceeding
fifteen pounds, the Court shall certify that the non-payment of rent
causing the eviction has arisen from the rent being an exorbitant
rent; provided that no tenant who shall have given notice of
surrender, and afterwards refuse to give up possession in pursuance
of such notice, shall be entitled to any compensation under section
three of this Act, though evicted by the landlord in a suit
founded on such notice.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 10
Exception in case of lands required for labourers cottages.

10. Any landlord may, after six months notice in writing, to be
served upon the tenant, or left at his house, resume possession
from a yearly tenant of so much land (not to exceed in the whole
one twenty-fifth part of any individual holding), as he may require
for the bona fide purpose of erecting thereon one or more labourers
cottages, with or without gardens attached, and such resumption of
land shall not, unless the Court shall be of opinion that same was
unreasonable, be deemed a disturbance of the tenant within the
meaning of this Act, and shall not subject the landlord to any
claim for compensation, except in respect of improvements, beyond an
abatement of rent proportionate to the annual value of the land so
taken by the landlord.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 11
Derivative title of tenant.

11. For the purposes of this Act a tenant shall be deemed to have
derived his holding from the preceding tenant if he has paid to
such preceding tenant any money or given to him any money's worth
in respect of his holding, or has taken such holding by assignment
or operation of law from the preceding tenant; and where a
succession of tenants have derived title each from the other, the
earlier in such succession shall be deemed to be the predecessor of
the later, and the later in such succession shall be deemed to be
the successor of the earlier.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 12
Partial exemption of certain tenancies.

12. A tenant of a holding which is not proved to be subject to
the Ulster tenant-right custom or such other usage as aforesaid,
whose holding, or the aggregate of whose holdings, in Ireland is
valued under the Acts relating to the valuation of rateable property
in Ireland at an annual value of not less than fifty pounds, shall
not be entitled to make any claim for compensation under any
provision of this Act in cases where the tenant has contracted in
writing with his landlord that he will not make any such claim.

S.13 rep. by 1881 c.49 s.6

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 14
Eviction in certain cases not to be deemed a disturbance.

14. Where it is proved to the Court that the tenant of any
holding held under a tenancy from year to year existing at the
time of the passing of this Act is evicted by the landlord by
reason of the persistent exercise by such tenant of any right not
necessary to the due cultivation of his holding, and from which
such tenant is debarred by express or implied agreement with his
landlord, such eviction shall not be deemed a disturbance of the
tenant by the act of the landlord; or where the tenant of any
holding so held as last aforesaid at the time of the passing of
this Act is evicted by the landlord by reason of the tenant's
unreasonable refusal to allow the landlord, or any person or persons
authorized by him in that behalf, he or they making reasonable
amends and satisfaction for any injury to be done or occasioned
thereby, to enter upon the holding for any of the purposes
following, that is to say,

Mining or taking minerals;

Quarrying or taking stone, marble, gravel, sand, or slate;

Cutting or taking timber or turf;

Opening or making roads, drains, and watercourses;

Viewing or examining the state of the holding and all buildings or
improvements thereon;

Hunting, shooting, or fishing, or taking game or fish;

Exemption of certain lands.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 15

15. No compensation shall be payable under the preceding provisions
of this Act in respect of

(1)Any demesne land, or any holding ordinarily termed "townparks"
adjoining or near to any city or town which shall bear an
increased value as accommodation land over and above the ordinary
letting value of land occupied as a farm, and shall be in the
occupation of a person living in such city or town, or the suburbs
thereof, or any holding let to be used wholly or mainly for the
purpose of pasture, and valued under the Acts relating to the
valuation of property in Ireland at an annual value of not less
than fifty pounds, or any holding let to be used wholly or mainly
for the purposes of pasture the tenant of which does not actually
reside on the same, unless such holding adjoins or is ordinarily
used with the holding on which such tenant actually resides:
Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the tenant of
any such holding making any claim which he otherwise would be
entitled to make under sections four, five, and seven of this Act;
or

(2)Any holding which the tenant holds by reason of his being a
hired labourer or hired servant; or

(3)Any letting in conacre or for the purposes of agistment or for
temporary depasturage; or

(4)Any holding let and expressed in the document by which it is
let to be so let for the temporary convenience or to meet a
temporary necessity either of the landlord or tenant, and the
letting of which has determined by reason of the cause having
ceased which gave rise to the letting;

(5)Any cottage allotment not exceeding a quarter of an acre.

Proceedings by tenant in respect of claims.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 16

16. Every tenant entitled under this Act to make any claim in
respect of any right or for payment of any sums due to him by
way of compensation, and about to quit his holding, may within the
prescribed time serve a notice of such claim on his landlord, or
in his absence his known agent; the notice shall be in writing in
the prescribed form, and shall state the particulars of such claim,
subject to such amendment as the Court may allow, together with the
dates at which and the periods within which such particulars are
severally alleged to have accrued, and, where such claim or any
part of the same is in respect of compensation under the provisions
of section three of this Act the number of years rent claimed
shall be specified.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 17
Proceedings by landlord in respect of claims.

17. On the receipt of the notice the landlord shall be deemed to
have admitted the claim made by the tenant, unless within the
prescribed time and in the prescribed manner he serves a notice on
the tenant, stating that he disputes the whole or some portion of
the claim made by the latter, and upon service of such notice by
a landlord on the tenant a dispute shall be deemed to have arisen
between the landlord and the tenant as to the whole or a portion
of such claim, and such dispute shall be decided by the Court,
unless within the time and in the manner prescribed in that behalf
such dispute shall have been settled by agreement between the
landlord and tenant.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 18
Equities between landlord and tenant.

18. On the hearing of any dispute between landlord and tenant under
this Act, either party may make any claim, urge any objection to
the claim of the other, or plead any set-off such party may think
fit (including in the case of a landlord any moneys paid on
account of the purchase of the right of the tenant under the
Ulster tenant-right custom or such usage as aforesaid), and the
Court shall take into consideration any such claim, objection, or
set-off, also any such default or unreasonable conduct of either
party as may appear to the Court to affect any matter in dispute
between the parties, and shall admit, reduce, or disallow altogether
any such claim, objection, or set-off made or pleaded on behalf of
either party as the Court thinks just giving judgment on the case
with regard to all its circumstances including such consideration of
conduct as aforesaid, and the Court shall have jurisdiction at the
hearing of any such dispute to ascertain what sums, if any, shall
be deemed due by the tenant to the landlord under sections three,
four, and seven of this Act, or any set-off in respect of
unliquidated or liquidated damages under said sections, or any of
them; and in any case in which compensation shall be claimed under
section three of this Act, if it shall appear to the Court that
the landlord has been and is willing to permit the tenant to
continue in the occupation of his holding upon just and reasonable
terms, and that such terms have been and are unreasonably refused
by the tenant, the claim of the tenant to such compensation shall
be disallowed.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 19
Order of Court to be in writing, &c.

19. In every case of dispute between landlord and tenant heard
before the Civil Bill Court, the order of the Court shall be
reduced into writing in the form of a decree or award (as the
case may be), and shall state the items of claim allowed, that is
to say, the particulars of loss sustained by the tenant in quitting
his holding, and of the improvements and payment to his predecessor
in title in respect to which compensation may have been awarded to
the tenant under the third, fourth, and seventh sections, and also
the particulars of any set-off, objection, default, or conduct
allowed or taken into account; such decree or award to be made in
the prescribed form.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 20
Provision in case of derivative estates in the same holding.

20. Where in the case of any holding there are several persons
standing in the relation to each other of landlord and tenant, and
the circumstance of any one of such tenants quitting his holding by
reason of disturbance or otherwise involves the interest of any of
such persons other than the tenant quitting his holding, the Court
shall determine the whole amount payable under this Act on the
occasion of such tenant quitting his holding, and shall direct
payment of the same by such person, and to such one or more of
the persons interested, and in such manner, as the Court thinks
just; provided that this section shall not affect the Ulster
tenant-right custom or such usage as aforesaid to which any holding
is proved to be subject.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 21
Restriction on eviction of tenant.

21. A tenant who may be decided by the Court to be entitled to
compensation to be paid by any landlord shall not be compelled by
process of law to quit his holding until the amount of compensation
due to him has been paid or deposited in manner herein-after
mentioned. A landlord shall in all cases have the option of
depositing in the manner prescribed the amount of compensation due;
and if at any time after the making of a claim for compensation
as herein-before directed, and before finally giving up possession of
his holding, a tenant shall be alleged to have done any damage to
his holding, or the buildings thereon, the Court shall inquire into
the same, and allow to the landlord out of the money so deposited
such compensation as it may deem just, including mesne rates. In no
case shall a tenant, except by special leave of the Court be
entitled to receive the money so deposited until he shall have
given up possession of his holding. Where compensation is awarded in
respect of any holding to be paid by any landlord who is himself
a tenant of such holding, the tenant to whom such compensation is
awarded shall not by reason of such compensation not being paid or
deposited in manner aforesaid by such landlord be entitled under
this section, as against a superior landlord not liable to such
compensation, to retain possession of the holding after the
expiration or determination of the title thereto of the landlord by
whom such compensation was so awarded to be paid as aforesaid.

Court to mean Civil Bill Court or Court of Arbitration.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 22

22. For the purposes of this part of this Act the Court shall
mean one or other of the tribunals following; that is to say,

The Civil Bill Court of the county where the matter requiring the
cognizance of the Court arises; or,

The Court of Arbitration constituted as in this Act mentioned.

Where a matter requiring the cognizance of the Court arises in
respect of a holding situate within the jurisdiction of more than
one Civil Bill Court, any Civil Bill Court within the jurisdiction
of which any part of the holding is situate may take cognizance of
the matter.

S.23 rep. by 1959 c.25 (NI) s.154(3) sch.5. S.24 rep. by 1881 c.49
s.47

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 25
Court of Arbitration.

25. Where the parties to any such dispute as aforesaid respecting
any holding are desirous that such dispute should be settled by
arbitration, they shall, in the prescribed manner and within the
prescribed time, refer the same to an arbitrator or arbitrators,
with an umpire to be appointed in manner appearing in the schedule
annexed hereto, and the tribunal so selected shall be deemed in
respect of such dispute the Court of Arbitration under this Act.

The Court of Arbitration shall in all cases brought before it under
this Act, have all and the like powers, jurisdiction, and authority
as a Civil Bill Court under this Act, with this exception, that
the Court of Arbitration shall have no power to punish persons for
contempt, or to enforce its awards; but it may report to the Civil
Bill Court the name of any person refusing to give evidence, or to
produce documents, or guilty of contempt of the Court when sitting
judicially; and the Civil Bill Court may, upon such report, punish
the offender in the same manner as if the offence had been
committed in, or in respect of a matter under the cognizance of
the Civil Bill Court.

The award of the Court of Arbitration may, at the instance of
either party, be recorded in the prescribed manner and within the
prescribed time in the Civil Bill Court, and when so recorded shall
be enforceable as if the same were an order of the said Court.

No such award shall, so far as relates to the dispute under this
Act, be held to be invalid by reason of the violation of or
non-compliance with any technical rule of law respecting awards,
where such award substantially decides the dispute referred to the
Court of Arbitration.

No appeal shall lie from an award of the Court of Arbitration, nor
shall any such award be removable by certiorari.

Interpretation of "limited owner."

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 26

26. The expression "limited owner" shall in this Act mean as
follows:

(1)Any person entitled under any existing or future settlement at
law or in equity, for his own benefit and for the term of his
own life, to the possession or receipt of the rents and profits of
land, whether subject or not to incumbrances, in which the estate
for the time being subject to the trusts of the settlement is an
estate for lives or years renewable for ever, or is an estate
renewable for a term of not less than sixty years, or is an
estate for a term of years of which not less than sixty are
unexpired, or is a greater estate than any of the foregoing
estates:

(2)Any body corporate, any corporation sole, ecclesiastical, or lay,
any trustees for charities, and any commissioners or trustees for
ecclesiastical, collegiate, or other public purposes, entitled at law
or in equity, in the case of freehold land, to an estate in fee
simple or in fee farm, and in the case of leasehold land to a
lease for an unexpired residue of not less than thirty-one years,
or for a term of years or of lives renewable for ever, or
renewable for a period of not less than thirty-one years.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 27
Agreement by limited owner.

27. A landlord, being a limited owner, shall have power to agree
with a tenant as to the amount of compensation payable to him
under this Act, and on payment of the same to the tenant may
apply to the Civil Bill Court for an order charging the holding
with an annuity in respect of such payment, and the Court, upon
being satisfied of such payment having been made, shall charge the
holding with an annuity of five pounds for every one hundred pounds
of the sum so paid to the tenant, and so on in proportion for
any less sum, such annuity to be limited in favour of the limited
owner, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and to be payable
for a term of thirty-five years on the anniversary of such date:
Provided that no such order shall be made by the Court unless
notice of the application for the same shall have been given in
the prescribed form to the person for the time being entitled to
the first estate of inheritance, if any, expectant upon the
determination of the estate of the limited owner, or if such person
shall be a married woman, infant, or lunatic, to his or her
husband, guardian, or committee respectively. Any annuity created
under this section shall be a charge upon the holding having
priority over all estates and interests subsequent to the estate or
interest of the limited owner, but subject to any estates,
mortgages, or other interests having priority over or charged on the
estate of the limited owner.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 28
Power of limited owner to grant leases.

28. Any limited owner shall have power to grant agricultural leases
for any term of years absolute, or determinable at fixed periods,
subject to the following restrictions:

(1)The term of any lease shall not exceed thirty-five years:

(2)The power of leasing conferred by this Act shall not include any
mansion house or demesne lands:

(3)The lease shall take effect in possession, or within one year
after the execution thereof, and not in reversion, and there shall
be reserved thereby a fair yearly rent to be incidental to the
immediate reversion of the holding, without taking anything in the
nature of a fine, premium, or foregift; and in estimating such
yearly rent it shall not be necessary to take into account against
the tenant the increase (if any) in the value of the holding
arising from any improvements executed by him or his predecessors in
title:

(4)The lease shall imply a condition of re-entry for non-payment of
the rent thereby reserved:

(5)The lease, if it includes any building, shall contain a clause
declaring whether the landlord or the tenant is bound to rebuild
such building in the case of the same being destroyed during any
part of the tenancy by fire, lightning, or tempest, and whether the
landlord or the tenant is bound to keep the same in repair:

(6)The lessee shall execute a counterpart of every lease, and shall
thereby covenant for the due payment of the rent reserved:

Effect of lease by limited owner.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 29

29. Any lease granted in pursuance of this Act by an individual
limited owner shall be valid against the person granting the same,
and against all persons entitled to any estate or interest
subsequent to the estate or interest of such limited owner, and any
lease granted in pursuance of this Act by any limited owner, being
a body corporate, corporation sole, trustees for charities,
commissioners or trustees for ecclesiastical, collegiate, or other
public purposes, shall bind all the estate and interest of such
last-mentioned limited owner; but no lease granted by an owner
holding himself under a lease shall continue after the expiration of
the term granted by such owner's lease.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 30
Leasing powers of Act to be cumulative.

30. All powers of leasing given by this Act shall be deemed to be
in addition to any other powers any limited owner may possess, and
such owner may exercise any other power of leasing vested in him
in the same manner as if this Act were not passed.

S.31 rep. by SLR 1883

Application to "the Court" for sale to tenant of holding.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 32

32. Subject to the restrictions herein-after mentioned, the landlord
and tenant of any holding in Ireland may agree for the sale of
the holding to the tenant at such price as may be fixed between
them; and upon such agreement being made they may jointly, or
either of them may separately with the assent of the other, apply
to the Landed Estates Court, in this part of this Act referred to
as "the Court," for the sale to the tenant of his holding.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 33
Restrictions on sale of holding.

33. No sale shall be made under this part of this Act unless the
landlord is the absolute owner of the land which forms the holding
of the tenant, or such tenant for life or other limited owner as
in this section mentioned.

"Absolute owner" shall in the case of freehold land mean the owner
in fee simple or in fee farm, or person capable of appointing or
disposing of the fee, whether subject or not to incumbrances, and
in the case of leasehold land mean the owner or person capable of
disposing of the whole interest in the lease under which the land
is held, whether subject or not to incumbrances.

No holding of leasehold tenure shall be sold under this part of
this Act unless the lease under which the landlord is possessed of
the land which forms the holding is a lease for lives or years
renewable for ever, or a lease for a term of years of which not
less than sixty are unexpired at the time of the sale being made;
....

"Tenant for life" shall, for the purposes of this part of this
Act, mean any person entitled under any existing or future
settlement at law or in equity for his own benefit and for the
term of his own life to the possession or receipt of the rents
and profit of land, whether subject or not to incumbrances in which
the estate for the time being, subject to the trusts of the
settlement, is an estate in fee simple or fee farm, or a lease of
such duration as is in this section mentioned.

"Other limited owner" shall mean any body corporate, any trustees
for charities, and any commissioners or trustees for collegiate or
other public purposes, having an estate in fee simple or fee farm,
or possessed of such leasehold as is in this section mentioned,
whether subject or not to incumbrances.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 34
As to the sale of holding by the Court.

34. The application shall be accompanied by a deposit of such sum
(if any), to be deposited by the landlord by way of security for
costs, as the Court may require. Upon the foregoing conditions being
complied with the Court shall make such inquiries as to the
circumstances of the holding in respect of which the application is
made, and as to the parties interested therein, either as
incumbrancers, owners or otherwise, and as to the sufficiency of the
price and of the capacity of the landlord to sell the same, as
the Court may think fit, and if the Court approve of the
application it shall carry such sale into effect accordingly, and
execute the necessary conveyance to the tenant.

S.35 rep. by 1896 c.47 s.52 sch.2

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 36
Certain charges not incumbrances.

36. The following charges and interests shall not be deemed
incumbrances within the meaning of this part of this Act; that is
to say,

(1)Quitrents and rentcharges in lieu of tithes:

(2)Rights of common, rights of way, watercourses, and rights of
water and other easements:

(3)Heriots, manorial rights of all descriptions, and franchises:

(4)Charges for drainage, or other charges created under Act of
Parliament, and to be specified in the conveyance.

As to the distribution of purchase money.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 37

37. The Court shall determine the rights and priorities of the
several persons entitled to or having charges upon or otherwise
interested in any holding sold in pursuance of this Act, and shall
distribute the purchase money in accordance with such rights and
priorities.

Where any moneys arising from a sale under this part of this Act
are not immediately distributable, or the parties entitled thereto
cannot be ascertained, or where from any other cause the Court
thinks it expedient for the protection of the rights of the parties
interested, the Court may order the moneys to be lodged in Court
or in the prescribed bank to the prescribed account, and may by
its order declare the trusts affecting such moneys, so far as the
Court has ascertained the same, or state the facts or matters found
by it in relation to the rights and interests in such moneys; and
the Court may from time to time make such orders in respect to
any such moneys, and the investment or application thereof, or the
payment thereof to the parties interested, as the circumstances of
the case may require.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 38
Costs of sale.

38. There shall be charged, in respect of any sale made in
pursuance of this part of this Act, such percentage fee on the
price paid as the Treasury may prescribe, and the fees so charged
shall be paid in to the receipt of Her Majesty's Exchequer, and
carried to the account of the Consolidated Fund of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 39
Costs of distribution of purchase money.

39. Where any purchase moneys have been so lodged in Court or in
the prescribed bank, provision shall be made in the prescribed
manner with the sanction of the Treasury for the payment without
cost to the persons entitled to any estate or interest in or
having charges upon the holding so sold of any principal or
interest moneys to which such persons may be entitled in respect of
such estate and interest: Provided that any provision so made shall
not extend to any expense caused by disputed titles, or any expense
incurred by the failure of any person to comply with the rules for
the time being in force relating to the distribution of such
purchase moneys.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 40
General powers of Court in conduct of sale of land.

40. The Court shall have full power to apportion charges, rents,
and covenants, and decide all questions whatsoever, which it may be
necessary to decide for the purposes of this Act, and shall not be
subject to be restrained in the due execution of their powers under
this Act by the order of any Court.

S.41 rep. by 1962 c.30 s.30(2)(d) sch.4 Pt.IV

Part III (ss.4256) rep. by 1881 c.49 s.30; SLR 1950; 1958 c.10
(NI) s.75 sch.; SLR 1980

S.57 rep. by 1949 c.15 (NI) s.16 sch.4 Pt.II

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 58
Regulations as to notice to quit.

58. No notice to quit shall be valid unless it is printed or
written, or partly in print and partly in writing, and signed by
the landlord or his agent lawfully authorized thereunto, .... Any
person serving on a tenant a notice to quit that is not in
conformity with this section shall incur a penalty not exceeding
[#2], to be recovered summarily under the provisions of the Petty
Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851.

In any proceedings between landlord and tenant, where the due
service of a notice to quit has been proved, such notice to quit
shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been duly
stamped.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 59
Administration on death of tenant.

59. The Civil Bill Court in any county on being satisfied that a
tenant in such county has died, and that there is no legal
personal representative of such tenant or no legal personal
representative whose services are available for the purposes of this
Act, may, if a legal representation of the tenant is required for
the purposes of this Act, by order appoint such person as it
thinks best entitled to be administrator of the deceased tenant
limited to the purposes of this Act, and any such limited
administrator shall for all the purposes of this Act represent the
deceased tenant in the same manner as if the tenant had died
intestate, and administration had been duly granted to such limited
administrator of all [the estate] of the tenant.

S.60 rep. by SLR 1976

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 61
Provision as to other persons under disability.

61. Where any person who (if not under disability) might have made
any application, given any consent, done any act, or been party to
any proceeding in relation to any holding under this Act, is a
minor, idiot, or lunatic, the guardian or committee of the estate
respectively of such person may make such applications, give such
consents, do such acts, and be party to such proceedings, as such
person respectively, if free from disability, might have made, given,
done, or been party to, and shall otherwise represent such person
for the purposes of this Act; where there is no guardian or
committee of the estate of any such person as aforesaid, being
infant, idiot, or lunatic, or where any person the committee of
whose estate if he were idiot or lunatic would be authorized to
act for and represent such person under this part of this Act is
of unsound mind or incapable of managing his affairs, but has not
been found idiot, or lunatic, under an inquisition, it shall be
lawful for the Civil Bill Court of the county in which the holding
is situate to appoint a guardian of such person for the purpose of
any proceedings under this part of this Act, and from time to time
to change such guardian; ....

Ss.6264 rep. by SLR 1893 (No.2); 1959 c.25 (NI) s.154(3) sch.5

Ss.6567 rep. by 1898 c.37 s.110 sch.6

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 68
Non-liability for rent for land covered by public roads.

68. Any person who, after the passing of this Act, shall take at
an acreable rent land adjoining or intersected by any public road
or public roads, shall not, in the absence of an agreement to the
contrary, be liable to rent for any portion of such land as may
be contained in the public road or roads.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 69
Tenancies at will.

69. Where any tenancy at will, or less than a tenancy from year
to year, is created by a landlord after the passing of this Act,
the tenant under such tenancy shall on quitting his holding be
entitled to notice to quit and compensation in the same manner in
all respects as if he had been a tenant from year to year:
Provided that this section shall not apply to any letting or
contract for the letting of land made and entered into bona fide
for the temporary convenience or to meet a temporary necessity
either of the landlord or tenant.

General definitions.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 70

70. In the construction of this Act the following words and
expressions shall have the force and meaning hereby assigned to
them, unless there be something in the subject or context repugnant
thereto:

The term "person" or "party" shall extend to and include any body
politic, corporate, or collegiate, whether aggregate or sole, and any
public company:

Definition rep. by SLR 1980

The term "prescribed" shall mean prescribed by any rules made in
pursuance of this Act:

The term "lease" shall include an agreement for a lease:

The term "settlement" as used in this Act shall include any Act of
Parliament, will, deed, or other assurance or connected set of
assurances whereby particular estates or particular interests in land
are created, with remainders or interests expectant thereon; and
every estate and interest created by appointment made in exercise of
any power contained in any settlement or derived from any settlement
shall be considered as having been created by the same settlement;
and an estate or interest by way of resulting use or trust to or
for the settlor, or his heirs, executors, or administrators, shall
be deemed to be an estate or interest under the same settlement:

The term "landlord" in relation to a holding shall include a
superior mesne or immediate landlord, or any person for the time
being entitled to receive the rents and profits or to take
possession of any holding:

The term "tenant" in relation to a holding shall mean any tenant
from year to year and any tenant for a life or lives or for a
term of years under a lease or contract for a lease, whether the
interest of such tenant has been acquired by original contract,
lawful assignment, devise, bequest, or act and operation of law; and
where the tenancy of any person having been a tenant under a
tenancy which does not disentitle him to compensation under this Act
is determined or expiring, he shall, notwithstanding such
determination or expiration, be deemed to be a tenant until the
compensation, if any, due to him under this Act has been paid or
deposited as in this Act provided:

The term "improvements" shall mean in relation to a holding

(1)Any work which being executed adds to the letting value of the
holding on which it is executed, and is suitable to such holding;
also,

(2)Tillages, manures, or other like farming works, the benefit of
which is unexhausted at the time of the tenant quitting his
holding.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 71
Agricultural or pastoral holdings only subject to this Act.

71. This Act shall not apply to any holding which is not
agricultural or pastoral in its character, or partly agricultural and
partly pastoral; and the term "holding" shall include all land of
the above character held by the same tenant of the same landlord
for the same term and under the same contract of tenancy.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 72
Short title.

72. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The Landlord and
Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870."

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT 1870 - SECT 73
Application of Act.

73. This Act shall apply to Ireland only.(1) If both parties concur
a single arbitrator may be appointed.

(2) If the single arbitrator dies or becomes incapable to act
before he has made his award, the matters referred to him shall be
determined by arbitration under the provisions of this Act in the
same manner as if no appointment of an arbitrator had taken place.

(3) If both parties do not concur in the appointment of a single
arbitrator, each party on the request of the other party shall
appoint an arbitrator.

(4) An arbitrator shall in all cases be appointed in writing, and
the delivery of an appointment to an arbitrator shall be deemed a
submission to arbitration on the part of the party by whom the
same is made, and after any such appointment has been made neither
party shall have power to revoke the same without the consent of
the other.

(5) If for the space of fourteen days after the service by one
party on the other of a request made in writing to appoint an
arbitrator such last-mentioned party fails to appoint an arbitrator,
then upon such failure the party making the request may apply to
the court, and thereupon the dispute shall be decided by the court
according to the provisions of this Act.

(6)If any arbitrator appointed by either party dies or becomes
incapable to act before an award has been made, the party by whom
such arbitrator was appointed may appoint some other person to act
in his place, and if for the space of fourteen days after notice
in writing from the other party for that purpose he fails to do
so the remaining or other arbitrator may proceed ex parte.

(7) If where more than one arbitrator has been appointed either of
the arbitrators refuses or for fourteen days neglects to act, the
other arbitrator may proceed ex parte, and the decision of such
arbitrator shall be as effectual as if he had been the single
arbitrator appointed by both parties.

(8) If, where more than one arbitrator has been appointed, and
where neither of them refuses or neglects to act as aforesaid, such
arbitrators fail to make their award within twenty-one days after
the day on which the last of such arbitrators was appointed, or
within such extended time (if any) as may have been appointed for
that purpose by both such arbitrators under their hands, the matters
referred to them shall be determined by the umpire to be appointed
as hereafter mentioned.

(9) Where more than one arbitrator has been appointed, the
arbitrators shall, before they enter upon the matters referred to
them, appoint by writing under their hands an umpire to decide on
any matters on which they may differ.

(10) If the umpire dies or becomes incapable to act before he has
made his award, or refuses to make his award within a reasonable
time after the matter has been brought within his cognizance, the
arbitrators shall forthwith after such death, incapacity, or refusal
appoint another umpire in his place.

(11) If in any of the cases aforesaid the said arbitrators refuse,
or for fourteen days after request of either party to such
arbitration neglect, to appoint an umpire, the Civil Bill Court, as
defined by this Act, shall, on the application of either party to
such arbitration, appoint an umpire.

(12) The decision of every umpire on the matters referred to him
shall be final.

Table for Redemption of Annuities or Rentcharges repealed by SLR
1980






BAILII:
Copyright Policy |
Disclaimers |
Privacy Policy |
Feedback |
Donate to BAILII

URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/lata1870233.txt