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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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prescribe that a particular tenant’s obligati<strong>on</strong> is pers<strong>on</strong>al to <strong>the</strong>original tenant <strong>and</strong> does not pass to a successor in title, but this shouldbe d<strong>on</strong>e expressly <strong>and</strong> not be left to become a matter <strong>of</strong> interpretati<strong>on</strong>as to what <strong>the</strong> parties intended. It should also be made clear that <strong>the</strong>statutory provisi<strong>on</strong> captures all agreements intended to be part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>tenancy, ie, whe<strong>the</strong>r c<strong>on</strong>tained in <strong>the</strong> lease itself or in some collateralagreement or “side letter”, 19 provided <strong>the</strong> successor in title acquiredits interest with notice <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> obligati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tained in an agreemententered into “outside” <strong>the</strong> lease. 20 This too should be subject to <strong>the</strong>general principle that it does not apply where <strong>the</strong> parties prescribeo<strong>the</strong>rwise. The Commissi<strong>on</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>ally recommends that <strong>the</strong>positi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> successors in title following assignment by <strong>the</strong> tenantshould be governed by a provisi<strong>on</strong> based <strong>on</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 12 <strong>of</strong> Deasy’sAct. The new provisi<strong>on</strong> should extend to all obligati<strong>on</strong>s intended tobe part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenancy, but it should be open to <strong>the</strong> original parties toprescribe expressly that particular obligati<strong>on</strong>s are pers<strong>on</strong>al to <strong>the</strong>m<strong>and</strong> are not to bind successors in title.B Assignment by <strong>the</strong> <strong>L<strong>and</strong>lord</strong>3.06 At comm<strong>on</strong> law an assignee <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord’s interest didnot obtain <strong>the</strong> benefit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> obligati<strong>on</strong>s entered into by <strong>the</strong> tenant, norwas that assignee liable to <strong>the</strong> tenant for performance <strong>of</strong> obligati<strong>on</strong>sentered into by <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord. That positi<strong>on</strong> was initially changed by<strong>the</strong> Statute <strong>of</strong> Reversi<strong>on</strong>s (Irel<strong>and</strong>) Act 1634 21 <strong>and</strong>, as in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong>assignment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenant’s interest, 22 is now governed by duplicateprovisi<strong>on</strong>s in Deasy’s Act 23 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> C<strong>on</strong>veyancing Act 1881. 24 Clearly192021222324Note that <strong>the</strong> English courts applied this principle even under <strong>the</strong>equivalent <strong>of</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 11 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> C<strong>on</strong>veyancing Act 1881 (see paragraph 3.06below) (secti<strong>on</strong> 142 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> English <strong>Law</strong> <strong>of</strong> Property Act 1925): see WegMotors Ltd v Hales [1961] 3 All ER 181; Systems Floors Ltd v RuralprideLtd [1995] 1 EGLR 48; Lotteryking Ltd v AMEC Properties Ltd [1995] 2EGLR 13.This would accord with <strong>the</strong> view <strong>of</strong> Kinlen J in Riordan v Carroll [1996] 2ILRM 263, 274. Cf <strong>the</strong> English cases cited in <strong>the</strong> previous footnote.See Wyse v Myers (1854) 4 ICLR 101 at 103 (per Moore J).See paragraphs 3.01 <strong>and</strong> 3.03 above.Secti<strong>on</strong> 13.Secti<strong>on</strong> 11.57

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