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Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

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B C<strong>on</strong>tracts2.06 As indicated earlier, 16 a c<strong>on</strong>tract for a lease or tenancy isgoverned by secti<strong>on</strong> 2 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Statute <strong>of</strong> Frauds (Irel<strong>and</strong>) 1695. Suchc<strong>on</strong>tracts are relatively rare in <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>text <strong>of</strong> residential tenancies,where <strong>the</strong> tendency is for <strong>the</strong> parties, at least with tenancies for arelatively short fixed period or periodic tenancies, to move directly toan immediate grant <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenancy. 17 They are, however, morecomm<strong>on</strong> in <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>text <strong>of</strong> commercial property, particularly where anew development, such as a shopping centre or <strong>of</strong>fice block, isinvolved. Here it may suit <strong>the</strong> parties to enter into an initial c<strong>on</strong>tract,which creates a commitment <strong>on</strong> both sides, but allows time forvarious matters 18 to be sorted out before <strong>the</strong> actual lease itself isgranted.2.07 The essence <strong>of</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 2 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1695 Statute is that itrequires a c<strong>on</strong>tract for <strong>the</strong> grant <strong>of</strong> any kind <strong>of</strong> tenancy to beevidenced in writing. 19 Thus <strong>the</strong> statutory requirements must be metwhe<strong>the</strong>r or not any written formalities apply to <strong>the</strong> subsequent grant<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenancy itself. For example, a tenancy for six m<strong>on</strong>ths may begranted orally, 20 but a c<strong>on</strong>tract entered into now by a l<strong>and</strong>ownerwhereby it is agreed that <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r party will be granted <strong>on</strong> somefuture date a tenancy for six m<strong>on</strong>ths must be evidenced in writing inaccordance with secti<strong>on</strong> 2. Of course, as menti<strong>on</strong>ed in <strong>the</strong> previous1617181920Paragraph 2.03 above.C<strong>on</strong>tracts were comm<strong>on</strong> in earlier times where a l<strong>on</strong>g lease <strong>of</strong> residentialproperty was being granted, eg, a building lease subject to a ground rent.But such leases were prohibited by secti<strong>on</strong> 2 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>L<strong>and</strong>lord</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tenant</strong>(Ground Rents) Act 1978: See Lyall L<strong>and</strong> <strong>Law</strong> in Irel<strong>and</strong> (2 nd ed RoundHall Sweet & Maxwell 2000) at 652; Wylie Irish L<strong>and</strong> <strong>Law</strong> (3 rd edButterworths 1997) paragraphs 4.092 <strong>and</strong> 18.24.Eg fitting out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> premises, employment <strong>of</strong> staff, organisati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> stock<strong>and</strong> equipment: see Wylie Irish <strong>L<strong>and</strong>lord</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tenant</strong> Act (2 nd edButterworths 1998) paragraph 5.04.It is, <strong>of</strong> course, a pre-requisite <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> applicati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 2 that <strong>the</strong>parties have entered into a “c<strong>on</strong>tract”, ie <strong>the</strong> usual comm<strong>on</strong> lawrequirements for a c<strong>on</strong>tract must have been met, such as an intenti<strong>on</strong> tocreate legal relati<strong>on</strong>s, <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>and</strong> acceptance <strong>and</strong> c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>: see C<strong>on</strong>nor vMcCarthy (1878) 12 ILTR 336; Swan v Miller [1919] 1 IR 151;McGillicuddy v Joy [1959] IR 189.Under secti<strong>on</strong> 4 <strong>of</strong> Deasy’s Act: see paragraph 2.15 below.36

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