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TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - LONG TITLE

An Act to improve the position of Tenants of certain Houses, Shops,
or other Buildings in Ireland.{1}
[21st December 1906]
COMPENSATION FOR IMPROVEMENTSTenant's right to compensation for
improvements.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 1

1.(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a tenant of a holding
to which this Act applies may, on quitting his holding, claim, in
the prescribed manner, compensation to be paid by the landlord in
respect of all improvements on his holding made by him or his
predecessors in title which at the date of such claim add to the
letting value of the holding, and are suitable to the character of
the holding, and have not diminished the letting value of any other
property of the same landlord. Provided always that the sum to be
awarded as compensation for any improvement shall, in no case,
exceed the capitalised value of such addition to the letting value
of such holding as the Court shall determine to be the direct
result of such improvement.

(2) In the event of any dispute between a landlord and a tenant
with regard to a claim for compensation under this section, such
dispute, unless the parties agree to refer it to arbitration, shall
be determined by the court in accordance with the provisions of
this Act, and the court, in awarding such compensation to the
tenant in respect of such improvements, may, in reduction of the
tenant's claim, take into consideration the time during which the
tenant may have enjoyed the advantage of the improvements and the
rent at which such holding had been held, and any benefits which
the tenant may have received from his landlord in consideration
expressly or impliedly of the improvements made.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 2
Limitation of tenant's right in certain cases.

2.(1) A tenant of a holding who is quitting it shall not be
entitled to any compensation in respect of any improvement when it
appears to the court that the landlord has made an offer, which in
the opinion of the court is reasonable, of a new tenancy or of
the continuance or renewal of the tenancy, with the right to the
tenant to dispose of his interest therein, and the tenant has not
accepted the offer.

(2) A tenant shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect
of any improvement made either before or after the passing of this
Act which the landlord had undertaken to make, except in cases
where the landlord has failed to perform his undertaking within the
time agreed on between him and the tenant, or within a time which,
in the opinion of the court, is a reasonable time.

(3) A tenant shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect
of any improvement made, whether before or after the passing of
this Act, in contravention of a contract in writing not to make
the improvement.

(4) A tenant shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect
of any improvement made, whether before or after the passing of
this Act, in pursuance of a contract entered into for valuable
consideration, including a building lease.

Subs.(5) spent

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 3
Landlord's right to object.

3.(1) Where a tenant of a holding proposes after the passing of
this Act to make improvements in his holding, he shall send to his
landlord notice, in the prescribed manner, of his intention to make
such improvements, together with a specification and plan of the
proposed improvements, and if the landlord or his known agent does
not, within three months after the receipt of the notice, send
notice of objection, in the prescribed manner, to the tenant, the
tenant may proceed to make the proposed improvements; but, if the
landlord or his agent send such notice objecting to all or any of
the improvements, the tenant may, in the prescribed manner, apply to
the court, and the court may, if satisfied that the improvement
will add to the letting value of the holding, and is reasonable
and suitable to the character thereof, and will not diminish the
letting value of any other property of the same landlord, sanction
all or any of the proposed improvements, making such modifications
in the specification or plan as the court thinks fit.

(2) Provided always that the landlord may, at any time after
receiving the tenant's notice or during the hearing by the court or
after the decision of the court, undertake to execute the
improvement himself, and may execute the same in a reasonable and
proper manner, and charge the tenant with a sum not exceeding five
pounds per centum per annum on the outlay incurred in executing the
improvement, or at the election of the tenant not exceeding such
annual sum payable for a period of twenty-five years as will repay
such outlay in the said period, with interest at the rate of three
pounds per centum per annum. Any annual sum charged against a
tenant under this subsection shall be recoverable as rent.

(3) A tenant shall not be entitled to claim compensation in respect
of any improvements made after the passing of this Act unless he
has given notice thereof under this section, and (in case the
landlord has given notice of objection thereto) the improvements have
been sanctioned by the court: Provided that where any sanitary
authority under the Public Health (Ireland) Acts, 1878 to 1900, or
the Housing of the Working Classes (Ireland) Acts, 1890 to 1896,
requires the owner or occupier to make any improvements or execute
any works in the holding, the occupier, upon the landlord's default,
may make or execute (subject to the provisions of the preceding
subsection) such improvements or works, and such improvements or
works shall be deemed to be improvements within the meaning of this
Act.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 4
Conditions of compensation.

4. Where, in the case of any holding, there are several persons
standing in the relation to each other of landlord and tenant, the
following provisions shall apply:

Any mesne landlord against whom a claim arises under this Act
shall, at the end of his term, be entitled to claim compensation
against his immediate landlord in like manner and on the same
conditions as if he had himself made the improvements in question:

A mesne landlord shall not be entitled to make a claim under this
section unless he has, within the time and in the manner
prescribed, sent to his immediate landlord or his agent copies of
all documents relating to proposed improvements or claims which have
been sent to him, in pursuance of the last preceding section. The
said immediate landlord shall thereupon have, in addition to the
mesne landlord, the powers conferred by or in pursuance of the last
preceding section in like manner as if he were the immediate
landlord of the occupying tenant, and shall, in the manner and to
the extent prescribed, be bound by the proceedings.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 5
Compensation for unreasonable disturbance.

5.(1) Where the landlord, without good and sufficient cause,
terminates or refuses to grant a renewal of the tenancy, or it is
proved that an increase of rent is demanded from the tenant as the
result of improvements which have been effected at the cost of such
tenant, and for which he has not, either directly or indirectly,
received an equivalent from the landlord, and such demand results in
the tenant quitting the holding, the tenant upon quitting the
holding shall, in addition to the compensation (if any) to which he
may be entitled in respect of improvements, and notwithstanding any
agreement to the contrary, be entitled to compensation for the loss
of goodwill and the expense which, by reason of his quitting the
holding, he sustains or incurs upon or in connection with the
removal of his goods, implements, produce, or stock.

In the event of any difference arising as to any matter under this
section, the difference shall, in default of agreement, be settled
by the court.

(2) This section shall apply only to houses, shops, and other
buildings occupied wholly or to a substantial extent for trade or
business purposes, and which are held (a) under tenancies from year
to year created after the passing of this Act, or (b) under leases
made after the passing of this Act for terms of less than
thirty-one years, or for a life or lives, or (c) under contracts
of tenancy existing at the passing of this Act where the rent of
the holding is under one hundred pounds per annum.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 6
Sums to be deducted by landlord.

6. Out of any moneys payable to a tenant under this Act, all sums
due to the landlord from the tenant or his predecessors in title
in respect of rent, or in respect of any deterioration of the
holding arising from any non-observance on the part of the tenant
of any express or implied covenant or agreement, may be deducted by
the landlord, and also any taxes payable by the tenant due in
respect of the holding and not recoverable by him from the
landlord.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 7
Exceptions.

7. A tenant who is evicted for breach of any condition of his
tenancy shall not be entitled to any compensation for disturbance
under this Act.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 8
Exclusion of certain holdings.

8.This Act shall not apply to any holding let to the tenant during
his continuance in any office, appointment, or employment, or for
the temporary convenience, or to meet a temporary necessity, either
of the landlord or tenant, provided that any such letting made
after the passing of this Act shall be by contract in writing
which shall express the purpose for which such letting is made.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 9
Prohibition of contracting out.

9. Any contract (other than a contract either to make or not to
make an improvement) made whether before or after the passing of
this Act, by virtue of which a tenant would be, directly or
indirectly, deprived of his right to obtain compensation under this
Act, shall be void unless the court adjudicating upon a claim for
compensation by such tenant shall, having regard to all the
circumstances of the case, be of opinion that such contract was
reasonable and that it was entered into by the parties without any
direct or indirect compulsion.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 10
Jurisdiction of the county court.

10.(1) The court for the determination of all matters under this
Act shall be the county court having jurisdiction where the holding
is situate.

Subs.(2) rep. by 1959 c.25 (NI) s.154(3) sch.5; subs.(3) rep. by
1955 c.21 (NI) s.28 sch.[

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 11
Appeals.

11. Any person aggrieved by any determination of the county court
under this Act may appeal to the High Court as though the
determination were a decree made in exercise of the jurisdiction
conferred by Part III of the County Courts [(Northern Ireland) Order
1980 and the appeal were brought under Part VI of that Order.]]

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 12
Proceedings in respect of claims.

12. Sections eighteen, twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-six, and
twenty-seven of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870; shall,
so far as they are applicable, apply to proceedings in respect of
claims under this Act; and the said section twenty-three shall have
effect as if "county court" were substituted therein for "civil bill
court"; and the duty imposed upon the court by the said section
twenty-seven shall, on the application of a limited owner, be
performed as well where compensation is awarded by the court as
where the amount of compensation is agreed upon.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 13
Right of entry.

13. The landlord of a holding, or any person authorised by him,
may at all reasonable times enter on the holding, or any part of
it, for the purposes of this Act.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 14
Application of capital money under 1882 c.38.

14. Capital money arising under the Settled Land Act, 1882, may be
applied in payment of any moneys expended and costs incurred by a
landlord under or in pursuance of this Act in or about the
execution of any improvement, as for an improvement authorised by
the said Settled Land Act; and such money may also be applied in
discharge of any charge created on a holding under or in pursuance
of this Act in respect of any such improvement as aforesaid, as in
discharge of an incumbrance authorised by the said Settled Land Act
to be discharged out of such capital money.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 15
Provision in case of trustees.

15. Where the landlord is a person entitled to receive the rents
and profits of any holding as trustee, or in any character
otherwise than for his own benefit, the amount due from such
landlord in respect of compensation under this Act shall be charged
and recovered as follows, and not otherwise (that is to say):

(1)The amount so due shall not be recoverable personally against
such landlord, nor shall he be under any liability to pay such
amount, but the same shall be a charge on and recoverable against
the holding only;

(2)Such landlord shall, either before or after having paid to the
tenant the amount due to him, be entitled to obtain from the
county court a charge on the holding to the amount of the sum
required to be paid or which has been paid, as the case may be,
to the tenant.

(3) If such landlord neglect, or fail within one month after the
tenant has quitted his holding, to pay to the tenant the amount
due to him, then after the expiration of such one month the tenant
shall be entitled to obtain from the county court in favour of
himself, his executors, administrators, and assigns, a charge on the
holding to the amount of the sum due to him, and of all costs
properly incurred by him in obtaining the charge or in raising the
amount due thereunder.

(4) The court shall, on proof of the tenant's title to have a
charge made in his favour, make an order charging the holding with
payment of the amount of the charge, including costs, in like
manner and form as in case of a charge which a landlord is
entitled to obtain.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 16
Advance made by a company.

16. Any company now or hereafter incorporated by Parliament, and
having power to advance money for the improvement of land, may take
an assignment of any charge made by a county court under the
provisions of this Act, upon such terms and conditions as may be
agreed upon between such company and the person entitled to such
charge; and such company may assign any charge so acquired by them
to any person or persons whomsoever.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 17
Holdings to which Act applies.

17. The holdings to which the provisions of this Act relating to
compensation for improvements apply are houses, shops, and other
buildings situate in urban districts, towns, or villages, and
occupied either for residential or for business purposes, or partly
for residential and partly for business purposes.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 18
Definitions.

18. The following expressions in this Act shall, unless the context
otherwise requires, have the meanings hereinafter respectively assigned
to them (that is to say):

"Landlord" shall have the same meaning as in section one of the
Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act, Ireland, 1860;

"Owner" shall have the same meaning as in section two of the
Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878;

"Tenant" shall mean any person entitled in actual possession to the
holding under any contract of tenancy for a year or for any longer
period, whether the interest of such tenant shall have been acquired
by original contract, lawful assignment, bequest, devise, or act and
operation of law;

"Lease" means a lease, under-lease, assignment operating as a lease
or under-lease, or an agreement for such lease, under-lease, or
assignment;

"Rules" includes forms;

"Prescribed" means prescribed by rules of the county court;

The expression "predecessor in title" shall have the same meaning as
in the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, as amended by
section seven of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881.

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 19
Registration of improvements.

19. Improvements by a landlord or tenant on any holding may be
registered in the manner provided by section six of the Landlord
and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, but the court in which the
improvements may be registered shall be the court within the meaning
of this Act, and the said section for the purposes of this section
shall be deemed to be incorporated in this Act.

S.20 rep. by SLR 1927

TOWN TENANTS (IRELAND) ACT 1906 - SECT 21
Short title.

21. This Act may be cited as the Town Tenants (Ireland) Act, 1906.