Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2014
304. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 194 of 18 April 2013, if she will provide an update on whether there are plans within her Department to address continuing problems associated with ground rents. [44259/14]
View answer305. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if records are retained on the number of households or properties potentially subject to ground rents wherein the residents of the households or properties do not have a freehold interest; if she will report on the current methods whereby the level of such rents are determined; and if her Department is aware of the locations of affected households and properties. [44260/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 304 and 305 together.
The current statutory position is that section 2 of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1978 introduced a prohibition on the creation of new leases reserving ground rents on dwellings. As regards the existing ground rents, Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No.2) Act 1978 contains a statutory scheme whereby a person may, at reasonable cost, acquire the fee simple in their dwelling. Comprehensive details of the manner in which the fee simple can be acquired under this scheme are available on the Property Registration Authority's website (www.prai.ie). In the case of property other than dwellings, the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1967 contains provisions which facilitate acquisition of the fee simple in certain cases subject to agreed terms or on terms set out in an arbitration carried out by the County Registrar.
As regards the number of dwellings and other properties on which ground rents remain payable, the position is that no such data are available. The title deeds of individual properties normally contain all the relevant covenants, including details of any arrangements for the payment of ground rent and the amounts involved. To date, over 80,000 applicants have acquired the freehold title to their properties under the statutory scheme operate by the Property Registration Authority.
The position regarding ground rents was considered by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in their 2004 Report 'Private Property'. The Committee took the view that a ground rent is a form of property right which is constitutionally protected and that abolition of such rents would be unconstitutional in the absence of adequate monetary compensation. The Committee also noted that where leases were approaching expiry, any legislation providing for the abolition of ground rents would have to provide for the payment of enhanced compensation. While I have no immediate plans to introduce further legislation in this area, operation of the existing law continues to be kept under review by my Department.
