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APPENDIX IX.Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 71 of 1967).(i)An Rúnaí, An Roinn Rialtais Áitiúil. I am directed by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments to refer to the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 71 of 1967) which is being considered by the Committee. The Select Committee wishes to ascertain if it is considered that the letting condition prescribed by Article 6 (1) (p) of the Regulations is subject to the provisions of section 14 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881 as amended by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1892 and the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act, 1967. If the condition is so subject the Committee would like to know if it is correct in assuming that the purpose of the condition is to enable the housing authority, not to recover possession of the dwelling, but to obtain compensation from the tenant: presumably if the housing authority wished to recover possession it would terminate the tenancy by notice under Article 6 (1) (q) of the Regulations and make application to the District Court under Section 62 (1) of the Housing Act, 1966. M. G. KILROY. Cléireach an Roghchoiste. 14 Nollaig, 1967. (ii)Cléireach an Roghchoiste, Seanad Éireann. I am directed by the Minister for Local Government to refer to your minute of 14th December, 1967 regarding certain provisions of the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 71 of 1967) which are at present being considered by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments. I am to state that the Minister has been advised that the letting condition prescribed by Article 6 (1) (p) of the Regulations is subject to the provisions of Section 14 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, as amended by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1892. The Minister has also been advised that it is normal practice to include a condition on the lines of the condition prescribed by Article 6 (1) (p) of the Regulations in letting agreements. This condition would confer on a housing authority all the benefits that such a condition usually confers, including the right to obtain compensation from tenants following the breach, non-performance, or non-observance by the tenant of any of the provisions of the letting agreement. It is not envisaged that any housing authority would in practice re-enter upon and resume possession of a dwelling (other than abandoned dwellings to which section 62 (2) of the Housing Act, 1966 applies), without first terminating the tenancy in the dwelling by notice in accordance with Article 6 (1) (q) of the Regulations and obtaining a warrant from the District Court under Section 62 of the 1966 Act. D. NALLY. 8 Márta, 1968. (iii)An Rúnaí, An Roinn Rialtais Áitiúil. I am directed by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments to refer to Mr. Nally’s minute (H.304/2) of 8 Márta, 1968 regarding Article 6 (1) (p) of the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 71 of 1967). It seems clear to the Committee that the sole purpose of Article 6 (1) (p) of the Regulations is to enable local authorities to recover compensation from tenants for breach, non-performance or non-observance of provisions in letting agreements. If this is correct the Committee would like to know what objection, if any, there is seen to providing explicitly in regulations and letting agreements for the payment of such compensation. M. G. KILROY. Cléireach an Roghchoiste. 21 Márta, 1968. (iv)Cléireach an Roghchoiste, Seanad Éireann. I am directed by the Minister for Local Government to refer to your minute of 21ú Márta, 1968 regarding Article 6 (1) (p) of the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 71 of 1967) and to state that the purpose of the article is to make clear to the tenant the right of the local authority to resume possession in the event of breach, non-performance or non-observance of any of the provisions of the letting agreement. Since persons from whom possession is recovered by local authorities are generally in no position to pay compensation the right to claim it is rarely exercised by authorities, other than in relation to article 6 (1) (m) of the Regulations, where the responsibility of the tenant and his liabilities are clearly stated. Difficulties of the type envisaged by the Committee have not, so far as the Minister is aware, arisen in the past fifteen years—in relation either to article 6 (1) (p) or article 8 (1) (1) of the Housing (Management and Letting) Regulations, 1953 (S.I. No. 47 of 1950) which corresponds exactly with article 6 (1) (p). The Minister is advised that in these circumstances an explicit provision in the Regulations and in letting agreements for the payment of such compensation does not appear to be desirable. Such a provision could, in fact, operate onerously on the tenants concerned. D. NALLY. 10 Aibreán, 1968. (v)An Rúnaíl, An Roinn Rialtais Áitiúil. I am directed by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments to refer to Mr. Nally’s minute of 10 Aibreán, 1968 and previous correspondence (H. 304/2) regarding Article 6 (1) (p) of the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations (S.I. No. 71 of 1967). The Committee’s difficulty in regard to this provision is in understanding how the condition prescribed can be appropriate in the case of a letting by a housing authority on a weekly tenancy. It is accepted that Article 6 (1) (p) is subject to section 14 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881. Consequently the condition prescribed therein “shall not be enforceable, by action or otherwise, unless and until the lessor serves on the lessee a notice specifying the particular breach complained of and, if the breach is capable of remedy, requiring the lessee to remedy the breach and, in any case, requiring the lessee to make compensation in money for the breach, and the lessee fails, within a reasonable time thereafter, to remedy the breach, if it is capable of remedy, and to make reasonable compensation in money, to the satisfaction of the lessor, for the breach.” If the right to claim compensation “is rarely exercised by authorities” it follows that the condition can be rarely enforced. It is not clear how the provision can be said “to make clear to the tenant the right of the local authority to resume possession” if the procedure for enforcing that right is rarely exercised. If the condition is intended merely to indicate circumstances in which the housing authority will act under Article 6 (1) (q) it seems to the Committee that section 14 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881 may preclude the authority from so acting. The Committee would welcome the further observations of your Department on the foregoing points. M. G. KILROY. Cléireach an Roghchoiste. 30 Bealtaine, 1968. (vi)Cléireach an Roghchoiste, Seanad Éireann. I am directed by the Minister for Local Government to refer to your minute of 30ú Bealtaine, 1968 and previous correspondence regarding the provisions of the Housing Authorities (Loan Charges Contributions and Management) Regulations, 1967, (S.I. No. 71 of 1967) which are at present being considered by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments. I am to draw your attention to the terms of the last paragraph of the Department’s minute of 8ú Márta and to state that insofar as dwellings other than abandoned dwellings are concerned, the Minister is advised that any housing authority which complies with the provisions of— (1) articles 6 (1) (q) and 6 (1) (r) of the 1967 Regulations and (2) sections 3 and 62 (1) of the Housing Act, 1966, would generally satisfy the requirements of section 14 (1) of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881. The Minister is also advised that a dispossessed tenant would be unlikely, in the above circumstances, to merit any compensation under section 14 (2) of the 1881 Act. D. NALLY. 20 Meitheamh, 1968. |
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