Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 May 2004
195 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 174 of 12 May, his views on whether ten to 15 times the annual ground rent to be paid by the State to the landlord with regard to the income they will forfeit through the abolition of ground rents represents an adequate system of compensation. [14698/04]
View answerA statutory scheme for the acquisition of the fee simple in dwellinghouses is contained in the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978. Part III of that Act provides a special procedure, operated at low cost by the Land Registry, whereby a person may acquire readily and relatively inexpensively the fee simple in their dwellinghouse.
Section 7 of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1984 contains provisions for determining the purchase price where the right to acquire the fee simple is exercised and the price must be determined by arbitration. Such arbitration by the Registrar of Titles is provided for in section 21 of the 1978 (No. 2) Act. There is no obstacle to a person negotiating directly with the owner of the ground rent for its purchase without reference to the (No. 2) Act.
