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Ground Rents.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 February 2005

Tuesday, 8 February 2005

Questions (355)

Mary Upton

Question:

408 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals he has to simplify the buy-out by tenants of ground rent, in particular as applies to places of business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3379/05]

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Written answers

The Deputy is aware that the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 provides for a statutory scheme for the acquisition of the fee simple by the owners of dwelling houses. Part III of the Act provides a special procedure, operated at low cost by the Land Registry, whereby owner occupiers of dwelling houses may acquire readily and relatively inexpensively the fee simple in their property. The Act also 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 determines the application by arbitration.

While Part III of the Landlord and Tenants (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 does not apply to business premises, the fee simple in such cases may be acquired by the lessee in accordance with the notice procedure set out in the Landlord and Tenants (Ground Rents) Act 1967. Under this procedure, parties are free to fix a purchase price for the fee simple. The matter may be referred to the county registrar for arbitration in the absence of such an agreement. Under section 7 of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1984, the purchase price determined by arbitration shall be the sum which, in the opinion of the arbitrator, a willing purchaser would give and a willing vendor would take for the fee simple being acquired, having regard to the various factors listed in that section.

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