Vol. 541 No. 2
890 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if there is a commitment in the Programme for Government to hold a referendum to abolish ground rents on domestic dwellings; if so, if he intends to carry out this commitment; his views on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21760/01]
The Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act, 1978, already provides a statutory scheme for the purchase of the fee simple in the case of dwelling houses. To date, in excess of 74,633 people have purchased their ground rents under the existing scheme. Part III of the Act sets out 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 purchase price in most cases at present is about 15 times the ground rent. There is no obstacle to a tenant negotiating directly with the owner of the ground rent for its purchase without reference to the 1978 (No. 2) Act.
The 1978 (No. 2) Act also contains provision 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. Moreover, the Act makes provision for the circumstance that the ground rent landlord cannot be found.
In so far as future legislation is concerned, the Government's current legislation programme makes provision for a Bill to abolish ground rents. However, the content of such a proposal continues to be examined by my Department in consultation with the Attorney General's Office and the Land Registry, since it raises certain constitutional, technical and practical difficulties. I hope that these difficulties can be overcome in a way that would improve on the readily available and reasonable system that already exists for the purchase of ground rents, and that the details of new legislation can be announced early in 2002. The question of holding a referendum to abolish ground rent on domestic dwellings does not, therefore, arise at this stage.
891 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will instruct the Land Registry Office to expedite dealings (details supplied) in County Mayo. [21761/01]
I am informed by the Registrar of Titles that these dealings refer to applications for transfers of part which were lodged on various dates between 30 June 1999 and 22 June 2001. I am further informed that it is not possible at this stage to estimate a completion date in respect of these applications. However, I assure the Deputy that the applications have been marked "expedite" by the Land Registry.
