Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

CHAPTER 1THE RELATIONSHIP OF LANDLORD ANDTENANTA Historical Background1.01 The relationship of landlord and tenant is a concept with asomewhat confused history. At first sight it might appear to havesome connection with the old feudal relationship of landlord andtenant, which was based on the concept of tenure. 1 Such feudalconcepts did become part of Irish law as the common law wasimposed after the twelfth century and finally established here duringthe seventeenth century. 2 However, the tenure recognised by thefeudal system was confined to what is referred to in modern times as“freehold” tenure. The relationship of landlord and tenant as it hasbeen recognised in more recent times was never part of the feudalsystem. Indeed, when landowners began centuries ago to permit otherparties to occupy and use their land, usually in return for payment of arent, no form of tenure was regarded as being created. Rather thearrangement was considered to be a purely contractual one betweenthe parties, the grantor and the grantee. The grantee was not regardedas having any “estate” or “interest” in the land, so that it could not beassigned to another person or inherited by a successor on thegrantee’s death. 31.02 As the popularity of such arrangements increased it came tobe recognised that, notwithstanding their essentially contractualnature, they did involve features bearing similarity to the feudalconcepts of tenure and estates. The usual requirement of the granteeto pay rent to the grantor had obvious similarity to the feudal notionof “service” to be provided by a tenant to his lord. Of even greater123See Lyall Land Law in Ireland (2 nd ed Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell2000) Chapter 3; Wylie Irish Land Law (3 rd ed Butterworths 1997) Chapter2.See Wylie op cit Chapter 1.See further Wylie Irish Landlord and Tenant Law (2 nd ed Butterworths1998) Chapter 1.5