Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

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how far the Irish courts will follow these developments, but attentionshould be drawn to the provisions in section 15 of the ResidentialTenancies Bill 2003.6.10 Section 15 provides that a landlord of a dwelling “owes toeach person who could be potentially affected a duty to enforce theobligations of the tenant under the tenancy.” 33 The category of “aperson who could be potentially affected” is defined as meaning “aperson who, it is reasonably foreseeable, would be directly andadversely affected by a failure to enforce an obligation of the tenantwere such a failure to occur.” 34 What is interesting about thisprovision is that in many of the English cases referred to in theprevious paragraph, the alleged “management” failure by the landlordwas that one tenant in the multi-let property was adversely affected bythe landlord’s failure to enforce against other tenants in the sameproperty common covenants to which all the tenants were subject. 35This raises the question of whether the duty under section 15 36 shouldbe extended to properties other than dwellings. The Commission’sinclination is to leave the law on this subject to develop in the contextof non-residential property. It notes that the 2003 Bill contemplatesthat disputes concerning a breach of the landlord’s statutory duty willbe remedied solely by making a complaint to the new PrivateResidential Tenancies Board to be established under the Bill whenenacted, 37 and that no person will have a right of action in court forbreach of the duty. 38 Such complaints are to be dealt with by a systemof dispute resolution. 3933343536373839Section 15(1). Note that this duty, and remedies to enforce it, do not affectany duty of care which exists apart from it: section 15(4).Section 15(2).Eg the Chartered Trust (footnote 29 above) and Nynehead Developments(footnote 32 above) cases.Note that it would appear that it is possible to contract out of it: section 18prohibits contracting out only in relation to sections 12 and 16.Under Part 8.Section 15(3).Under Part 6.99
C Repairs6.11 Responsibility for maintenance of and repairs to 40 thedemised premises varies greatly from case to case. In particular, theresponsibility is often shared between the landlord and tenant. A notinfrequent arrangement is for the landlord to be responsible for thestructure and exterior of the premises and the tenant to be responsiblefor the non-structural and internal parts of the premises. The preciseallocation will usually vary according to the nature of the premisesbeing let and the length of the tenancy. Generally, the morecommercial the premises and the greater the length of the tenancy, themore likely it is that responsibility for maintenance and repairs will beimposed on the tenant. 416.12 Apart from express provisions in the lease, the general lawtraditionally imposed few repairing obligations on landlords. Thegeneral principle applied by the courts has tended to be caveatemptor, ie, the tenant is expected to take the premises as found at thecommencement of the tenancy. 42 The one exception to this atcommon law seems to have been an implied warranty which arises onthe letting of furnished 43 accommodation, that the premises are fit forhuman habitation 44 at the commencement of the tenancy. 45 There is,however, no obligation on the landlord in such cases to keep thepremises fit during the tenancy. 4640414243444546The distinction, if there is one, between “maintenance” and “repairs” is noteasy to discern and is often blurred in practice, eg, by including bothconcepts in the same covenant in a lease: see Wylie op cit paragraph 15.01.Eg as under a typical “FRI” (full repairing and insurance) commerciallease: see Wylie op cit paragraphs 5.04 and 15.28.Scales v Vandeleur (1913) 48 ILTR 36; Chambers v Cork Corporation(1959) 93 ILTR 45; Burke v Dublin Corporation [1991] 1 IR 341.But not unfurnished accommodation: Murray v Mace (1872) IR 8 CL 396;Beaver v McFarlane [1932] LJ Ir 128.Which may require more than being “habitable”: per Henchy J in Colemanv Dundalk UDC Supreme Court 17 July 1985.Wilson v Finch Hatton (1877) 2 Ex D 336. This common law rule wasrecognised by the Supreme Court in Siney v Dublin Corporation [1980] IR400.Sarson v Roberts [1895] 2 QB 395.100
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Landlord and Tenant Law Working Gro
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E Landlord’s Identity and Agent .
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INTRODUCTION1. This is the second <
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CHAPTER 1THE RELATIONSHIP OF LANDLO
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after its enactment there were nume
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Commission’s preliminary conclusi
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1.15 It might be thought that the I
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preliminary conclusion that any re-
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like lodgers, 83 hotel guests, 84 s
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landlord and tenant.” 96 This see
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the nature of a tenant’s interest
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parties an intention which they nev
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management of the said Railway arch
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the courts’ desire in the past to
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CHAPTER 2FORMALITIES2.01 This chapt
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Commission has previously drawn att
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paragraph, such an arrangement woul
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Deasy’s Act should be dropped fro
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the judges of the old Exchequer Cha
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within the purview of the Landlord
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seems to be inconsistent with the c
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E Surrenders2.21 Section 7 of Deasy
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Page 60 and 61: espect to the part not surrendered.
Page 62 and 63: CHAPTER 3SUCCESSORS IN TITLE3.01 Th
Page 64 and 65: section 10 of the Conveyancing Act
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Page 68: not clear how far statute law has c
Page 71 and 72: was not resolved until the enactmen
Page 73 and 74: the doctrine of estoppel. 57 On the
Page 75 and 76: eferred to as a severance of the in
Page 77 and 78: need to have statutory provisions t
Page 79 and 80: the premises occupied by the sub-te
Page 82 and 83: CHAPTER 4FIXTURES4.01 The law of
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Page 86 and 87: A Common Law4.09 Originally at comm
Page 88 and 89: parties’ agreement. Furthermore,
Page 90 and 91: fixtures. Given that this is subjec
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Page 95 and 96: (2) consumer protection; (3) defaul
Page 97 and 98: subject was discussed in the <stron
Page 99 and 100: already covered by modern legislati
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Page 104 and 105: for sale. 14 This matter is again o
Page 106 and 107: may not be a point of much substanc
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Page 114 and 115: 6.19 It was mentioned earlier that
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Page 118 and 119: CHAPTER 7TENANT’S OBLIGATIONS7.01
Page 120 and 121: CHAPTER 8RENT AND OTHER PAYMENTS8.0
Page 122 and 123: 8.04 Section 42 of Deasy’s Act do
Page 124 and 125: until the last gale day of the curr
Page 126 and 127: one. 33 Disputes as to the new rent
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Page 130 and 131: on the landlord’s breach of repai
Page 132 and 133: Notwithstanding use of the title
Page 134 and 135: CHAPTER 9SERVICE CHARGES9.01 It has
Page 136: in service charges, so as to ensure
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Page 149 and 150: (e)(f)(g)Should the remedy apply to
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eiterates the recommendation of leg
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should be any distinction as to the
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12.11 There is one further, somewha
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CHAPTER 13NOTICE13.01 Service of a
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comprehensive and exhaustive, in th
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D Sub-Tenants13.08 It may be conven
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13.11 As indicated in the recommend
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very small rent. The Residential Te
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obligation by any tenant unless exc
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y one joint tenant is sufficient to
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“reasonable time” may vary from
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ent and other payments may be accum
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obtainable from the court in which
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mortgage it should have power to de
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a tenancy of a dwelling could not b
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seems to have fallen into disuse. 1
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is sufficient. 32 It is questionabl
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CHAPTER 16LIMITATION OF ACTIONS16.0
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1707 Administration of Justice Act
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the occupier of the land in questio
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set of statutory provisions governi
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comprehensively with part assignmen
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(ii) take the form of a scheme of
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y the landlord thereby making it cl
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Chapter 11 Insurance18.73 The Commi
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18.82 The Commission recommends tha
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the original sub-tenancy or mortgag
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APPENDIXLIST OF LAW REFORM COMMISSI
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Working Paper No 1
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Report on the Liability in Tort ofM
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Eleventh (Annual) Report (1989) (Pl
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Report on Occupiers’ Liability (L
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Report on Privacy: Surveillance and
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Consultation <stro
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Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

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