Vol. 522 No. 3
212 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will introduce legislation to abolish occupational leases in view of their penal effect on occupiers in the town of Carrickmacross, County Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18882/00]
219 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the procedure for a private householder to buy out his ground rent; the way in which a person can establish the ground landlord if bills have not issued or been paid for years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18721/00]
222 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans he has to abolish ground rent on domestic dwellings; if the constitutional difficulties can be outlined; if it has been decided that a constitutional change is necessary to proceed; if he has sought Government approval for such a referendum; and when this will take place. [18761/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 212, 219 and 222 together.
The Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No 2) Act, 1978, provides the statutory scheme for the acquisition of the fee simple by the owners of dwelling houses. The scheme, at low cost, is operated by the Land Registry and the purchase price in most cases at present is about 15 times the ground rent. The Act contains provision for the determination of applications for the purchase of the fee simple in cases where the consent of all the necessary parties is not forthcoming. In such cases the Registrar of Titles will determine the application by arbitration. The Act also makes provision for the circumstance that the ground rent landlord cannot be found. There is also no obstacle to a tenant negotiating directly with the owner of the ground rent for its purchase without reference to the (No. 2) Act.
Proposals which have been put forward on various occasions, that on an appointed day the ground rent tenant's interest would be enlarged into a fee simple and that he or she would be compelled to buy out the interest, have been the subject of examination in consultation with the Attorney General. However, those changes to the methods of purchasing ground rent raise constitutional, technical and practical difficulties of a kind which cannot be easily overcome. If and when those difficulties can be met in a way that would substantially improve on the already good and reasonable system that exists for the purchase of ground rent, the necessary legislative details will be announced in the normal way.
