Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

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6.13 To some extent the very limited responsibility of thelandlord for maintenance and repairs has been mitigated partly byfurther development of the common law and partly by statute. So faras the common law is concerned the main development has been inthe law of tort, whereby a landlord may incur liability to a tenant forthe condition of the demised premises under either the law ofnuisance 47 or the law of negligence. 48 The Commission sees no reasonfor interfering with these judicial developments, which the courtsshould remain free to pursue.6.14 Statutory mitigation of the very limited responsibility of alandlord for maintenance and repairs has been somewhat piecemeal.In general Deasy’s Act did not cover the landlord’s responsibility, butrather contained an implied agreement putting responsibility on thetenant. 49 This is taken up in a later chapter. 50 The exceptional case inDeasy’s Act concerns what it refers to as “cottier tenancies”. Theprovisions in question 51 are of little or no practical significance today,because they apply only where there is a written letting of a tenementcomprising a house or cottage without land (or no more than half anacre of land) at a rent not exceeding £5 (now the Euro equivalent) fora term of one month, or from month to month or any lesser period. 52Furthermore the provisions only apply where the lease in such casesimposes an obligation on the landlord to keep and maintain the houseor cottage “in tenantable condition and repair”. No obligation isimposed on the landlord if the lease is silent on the matter. Theseprovisions are clearly obsolete, but it is worth noting the specialremedy provided to cottier tenants where the landlord breached theexpress repairing obligation. Contrary to the general rule adopted by474849505152Eg where the nuisance suffered by the tenant emanates from otherpremises occupied by the landlord (see Byrne v Martina Investments LtdHigh Court 30 January 1984) or other tenants of the same landlord (seeGoldfarb v Williams & Co Ltd [1945] IR 433).See the discussion, in the context of a public authority landlord, by theSupreme Court in Siney v Dublin Corporation [1980] IR 400. See alsogenerally McMahon and Binchy The Law of Torts (3 rd ed Butterworths2000) chapter 13.Section 42.Paragraph 10.06 below.Section 81-83.Section 81.101
the courts, 53 section 83 of Deasy’s Act provided that no rent orcompensation was recoverable by the landlord so long as the breachcontinued. This is an issue which is taken up in a later chapter. 54Meanwhile the Commission provisionally recommends that sections81-83 of Deasy’s Act, which deal with cottier tenancies, should berepealed without replacement.6.15 Tenants may secure the remedying of defects in thecondition of demised premises by reporting the matter to the localauthority and asking it to exercise various powers under the publichealth legislation to require, for example, the landlord to abate anuisance. 55 Tenants may also ask a local authority to exercise powersunder the housing legislation to require, for example, the landlord tocomply with a repairs notice and execute works to render thepremises fit for human habitation. 56 Rather more directly landlords,including now public authority landlords, 57 of houses are required tocomply with the regulations governing the quality and condition ofaccommodation, facilities and appliances and the maintenance of aproper state of structural repair made under the Housing(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. 58 Furthermore, section 12(1)(b)535455565758Namely, that a tenant cannot withhold rent for breach of obligation by thelandlord: Corkerry v Stack (1947) 82 ILTR 60; Riordan v Carroll [1996] 2ILRM 263.Paragraph 10.18 below.Sections 107-112 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878: see Keane TheLaw of Local Government in the Republic of Ireland (The IncorporatedLaw Society of Ireland 1982) Chapter 5.Sections 66-69 of the Housing Act 1966.Housing authorities were held not to be caught by the implied warranty offitness for human habitation relating to lettings of houses contained insection 114 of the Housing Act 1966, but nevertheless were subject to anequivalent implied warranty in order to ensure consistency with theirgeneral duties as regards the housing stock: see Siney v DublinCorporation [1980] IR 400; Burke v Dublin Corporation [1991] 1 IR 341.Section 114 was repealed by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act1992, section 37 and Schedule.Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 (SI No 147 of1993), made under section 18 of the 1992 Act. These replace earlier byelawsmade under section 70 of the Housing Act 1966 and regulations madeunder section 26 of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act 1982. SeeWylie op cit paragraphs 15.09-11.102
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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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premises, the alternative of a new
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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,
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Page 97 and 98: subject was discussed in the <stron
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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
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Page 134 and 135: CHAPTER 9SERVICE CHARGES9.01 It has
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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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