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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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1981, 11 a new scheme governing “c<strong>on</strong>trolled dwellings” wasintroduced by <strong>the</strong> Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act 1982. 12Fur<strong>the</strong>r substantial protecti<strong>on</strong> is envisaged by <strong>the</strong> ResidentialTenancies Bill 2003 13 presented to <strong>the</strong> Oireachtas <strong>on</strong> 28 May 2003. 14This Bill seeks to implement <strong>the</strong> recommendati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>Commissi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> Private Rented Residential Sector. 15 In view <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> that Commissi<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> governmental acceptance <strong>of</strong> itsrecommendati<strong>on</strong>s, it would not be appropriate for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Law</strong> ReformCommissi<strong>on</strong> to retrace <strong>the</strong> ground covered by it. This <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> does not, <strong>the</strong>refore, deal directly with matters covered by <strong>the</strong>2003 Bill.5.05 Turning more specifically to legislati<strong>on</strong> promptingc<strong>on</strong>sumer protecti<strong>on</strong> by way <strong>of</strong> imposing obligati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lords <strong>and</strong>tenants, again <strong>the</strong>re is a l<strong>on</strong>g history <strong>of</strong> this. To some extent it may beargued that Deasy’s Act moved some way towards this, in that it doesc<strong>on</strong>tain many provisi<strong>on</strong>s purporting to impose obligati<strong>on</strong>s. However,it is questi<strong>on</strong>able whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y could be categorised as involving <strong>the</strong>noti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sumer protecti<strong>on</strong>, at least in its modern form. Much <strong>of</strong>Deasy’s Act is c<strong>on</strong>cerned with imposing various obligati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong>tenants, in order to enhance or bolster <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord’s positi<strong>on</strong>.Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, any noti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> “protecti<strong>on</strong>” is usually lacking because <strong>the</strong>statutory provisi<strong>on</strong>s are usually subject to <strong>the</strong> express provisi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> lease or tenancy agreement c<strong>on</strong>cluded. To use modern parlance, itis usually <strong>the</strong> case that <strong>the</strong> parties can c<strong>on</strong>tract out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong>Deasy’s Act.5.06 The c<strong>on</strong>cept <strong>of</strong> obligati<strong>on</strong>s being imposed <strong>on</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lords <strong>and</strong>tenants, which <strong>the</strong>y cannot c<strong>on</strong>tract out <strong>of</strong>, is a more modern <strong>on</strong>e.One example is <strong>the</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>s in <strong>the</strong> <strong>L<strong>and</strong>lord</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tenant</strong> Actsrequiring certain types <strong>of</strong> tenant covenants comm<strong>on</strong>ly found inleases 16 to be operated in a reas<strong>on</strong>able manner by l<strong>and</strong>lords. 17 This111213141516Blake <strong>and</strong> O<strong>the</strong>rs v Attorney <strong>General</strong> [1982] IR 117.See de Blacam The C<strong>on</strong>trol <strong>of</strong> Private Rented Dwellings (2 nd ed RoundHall/Sweet & Maxwell 1992).No 23 <strong>of</strong> 2003.By <strong>the</strong> Minister for <strong>the</strong> Envir<strong>on</strong>ment, Heritage <strong>and</strong> Local Government.See its Report (July 2000).Eg covenants against or restricting alienati<strong>on</strong>, changing <strong>the</strong> user <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>demised premises <strong>and</strong> making improvements.87

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