Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

CHAPTER 7TENANT’S OBLIGATIONS7.01 The ensuing chapters 1 deal with the main obligationsentered into by tenants when they take a tenancy. These relate to rent,service charges, repairs and insurance. Other obligations are, ofcourse, likely to be entered into, such as covenants against orrestricting alienation (such as assignment and subletting), user of thepremises and making improvements or alterations. 2 Those matters arecovered by provisions contained in the Landlord and Tenant(Amendment) Act 1980 3 and were considered in the Commission’s<strong>Consultation</strong> <strong>Paper</strong> on Business Tenancies 4 published in March 2003.They therefore fall outside the scope of this <strong>Consultation</strong> <strong>Paper</strong>.7.02 The Commission does, of course, recognise that inparticular cases provisions imposing other obligations on tenants maybe included in leases. 5 However, it takes the view that it is notappropriate to attempt to legislate for every conceivable possibilityand that some scope for contractual arrangements should be left. Ithas noted that the Residential Tenancies Bill 2003 contains somefurther examples which it would impose on tenants, such as anobligation on the tenant not to behave within the dwelling, or to allowother occupiers or visitors to the dwelling, to behave within it in away which is “anti-social”. 6 The Commission inclines to the view123456Chapters 8-11.See the precedents in Division L of Laffoy’s Irish ConveyancingPrecedents (Looseleaf Butterworths).Part V. Note also the provisions in section 16(j)–(l) of the ResidentialTenancies Bill 2003.Paragraph 4.44.See again the precedents in Division L of Laffoy’s Irish ConveyancingPrecedents (Looseleaf Butterworths).Section 16(h). What amounts to such behaviour is defined in section 17.Note also section 16(m) which would require the tenant to notify thelandlord of the identity of each person (other than a multiple tenant)residing in the dwelling.109