13.07.2015 Views

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

particularly serious, that is, where it rendered <strong>the</strong> dwelling “unfit foroccupati<strong>on</strong>”. 57 Creati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> a new statutory right to withhold rent, oro<strong>the</strong>r payments, 58 even in cases <strong>of</strong> very serious breaches, wouldinvolve a radical change in <strong>the</strong> law. The Commissi<strong>on</strong> notes that <strong>the</strong>Residential Tenancies Bill 2003, notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong> wide range <strong>of</strong>obligati<strong>on</strong>s imposed <strong>on</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lords 59 which cannot be c<strong>on</strong>tracted out<strong>of</strong>, 60 does not c<strong>on</strong>tain such a provisi<strong>on</strong>. 61 At this stage <strong>the</strong>Commissi<strong>on</strong> has an open mind <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> subject <strong>and</strong> wishes merely tomoot <strong>the</strong> point. It will review <strong>the</strong> matter in <strong>the</strong> light <strong>of</strong> resp<strong>on</strong>ses tothis <str<strong>on</strong>g>C<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Paper</str<strong>on</strong>g>.10.20 In order to inform c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> by o<strong>the</strong>rs, <strong>the</strong> following areaspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> matter which seem to merit c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> if a newstatutory remedy for tenants is to be c<strong>on</strong>sidered:-(a)(b)(c)(d)Should it involve <strong>the</strong> right merely to suspend paymentsowed to <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord or deprive <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> right to<strong>the</strong> payment for <strong>the</strong> period during which a breach <strong>of</strong>obligati<strong>on</strong> is not remedied?Should <strong>the</strong> right apply <strong>on</strong>ly to rent or extend to o<strong>the</strong>rpayments which may be due to <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord, eg, servicecharge payments?Should <strong>the</strong> remedy apply to all tenants, or be c<strong>on</strong>fined toparticular categories, eg, tenants <strong>of</strong> dwellings?Should <strong>the</strong> remedy apply automatically regardless <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lease or tenancy agreement, or should <strong>the</strong>parties be able to c<strong>on</strong>tract out <strong>of</strong> it?5758596061caught by secti<strong>on</strong> 83 was not prevented from bringing a caretaker’ssumm<strong>on</strong>s to recover possessi<strong>on</strong> from an overholding tenant or caretakerunder secti<strong>on</strong> 86: see Listowel RDC v Stack (1910) 44 ILTR 255; Bartley vFagan [1938] IR 733.In this respect it is not unlike <strong>the</strong> possible right <strong>of</strong> “rescissi<strong>on</strong>”: seeparagraph 10.16 above.Eg service charge payments: see Chapter 9 above.Secti<strong>on</strong> 12.Secti<strong>on</strong> 18(1).Note <strong>the</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>s relating to “redress” in secti<strong>on</strong>s 113-118.139

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!