Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

section 10 of the Conveyancing Act 1881, which remains in forcehere. What appears to have been overlooked by the WestminsterParliament is that there had already been enacted for Ireland astatutory provision to displace the common law, namely section 12 ofDeasy’s Act.3.04 Section 12 of Deasy’s Act is a very comprehensiveprovision. 13 Indeed, section 12 of the Act is so comprehensive that itwould seem to render redundant the provisions of section 11 of theAct. Section 11 relates to a particular category of obligationfrequently imposed on a tenant, namely those concerning assignmentor subletting. Section 12, however, seems to cover every category ofobligation entered into by a tenant. In essence it provides that,following an assignment by the tenant, the landlord, and anysuccessors of the landlord, can enforce the obligations contained inthe tenancy against the assignee, and any successors of the assignee.The section does not contain any qualification of the obligations soenforceable, such as existed at common law or, later, under section 10of the Conveyancing Act 1881, 14 and instead refers simply to “theagreements contained or implied in such lease or contract”. There is1314was held to have the same meaning as “touch and concern the land”: seeDavis v Town Properties Investment Co Ltd [1903] 1 Ch 797; BreamsProperty Investment Co Ltd v Stroulger [1948] 2 KB 1. It was carriedforward in England in section 141 of the Law of Property Act 1925, butwas dropped from section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act1995.See Wylie op cit paragraphs 21.22-23. Section 12 of Deasy’s Act states:Every landlord of any lands holden under any lease or other contract oftenancy shall have the same action or remedy against the tenant, and theassignee of his estate or interest, or their respective heirs, executors, oradministrators, in respect of the agreements contained or implied in suchlease or contract, as the original landlord might have had against theoriginal tenant, or his heir or personal representative respectively; andthe heir or personal representative of such landlord on whom his estateor interest under any such lease or contract shall devolve or should havedevolved shall have the like action and remedy against the tenant, andthe assignee of his estate or interest, and their respective heirs orpersonal representatives, for any damage done to the said estate orinterest of such landlord by reason of the breach of any agreementcontained or implied in the lease or other contract of tenancy in thelifetime of the landlord, as such landlord himself might have had.”See paragraph 3.03 above.55