Irish Land Act 1903
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1903 c. 37 |
| Year | 1903 |
Irish Land Act, 1903.
(3 Edw. 7.) CHAPTER 37.
An Act to amend the Law relating to the occupation and ownership of Land in Ireland and for other purposes relating thereto and to amend the Labourers (Ireland) Acts.
[14th August 1903]
B E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Part I.
Land Purchase .
Purchase and Resale of Estates.
1 Advances for purchase of holdings where whole estate sold.
(1) In the case of the sale of an estate, whether to the Land Commission or otherwise, when application is made for an advance under the Land Purchase Acts of the whole purchase money of a holding, and the Land Commission are satisfied that the tenant is in occupation of the holding, then, subject to the limitations in the Land Purchase Acts on advances to tenants purchasing their holdings, the Land Commission shall sanction the advance in the following cases, namely:—
(a ) In the case of the purchase of a holding subject to a judicial rent fixed or agreed to since the passing of the Act of 1896 , if the purchase annuity, created under this Act payable in respect of the advance, will be not less than ten nor more than thirty per cent. below the existing rent; and
(b ) In the ease of the purchase of a holding subject to a judicial rent fixed or agreed to before that date, if the said purchase annuity will be not less than twenty nor more than forty per cent. below that rent:
Provided that, in the case of a holding subject to a judicial rent fixed or agreed to before the passing of the Act of 1896, the Land Commission may, if they think it equitable and if the purchase agreement so provides, treat the holding, for the purposes of this section, as a holding subject to a judicial rent fixed since the passing of the Act of 1896.
(2) If the foregoing provisions are not complied with, the Land Commission may, subject to the limitations in the Land Purchase Acts, sanction the advance, if they are satisfied with the security and if, after giving all persons interested in the estate an opportunity of being heard, they consider the agreed price to be equitable, having regard to the interests of all such persons as aforesaid.
(3) The Land Commission, if they think it expedient with a view to the improvement of the estate, may declare that, for the purposes of this section, a portion of a holding, shall be deemed a holding, and in such case may apportion the rent of the holding between the portion proposed to be purchased and the remainder of the holding.
(4) Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary contained in the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1888 , an advance may be sanctioned under the provisions of the Land Purchase Acts, not exceeding the sum of seven thousand pounds to one purchaser, where, in the opinion of the Land Commission, it is expedient to make any such advance for the purpose of carrying out the sale of a holding to which the Land Law Acts apply.
(5) This section shall not apply in the case of holdings on congested estates, in respect of which the Land Commission have given a certificate under section six of this Act, nor in the case of holdings on estates purchased by the Congested Districts Board.
2 Advances for purchase of other portions of estate.
(1) In the case of the sale of an estate advances under the Land Purchase Acts may be made for the purchase of parcels thereof by the following persons:—
(a ) A person being the tenant of a holding on the estate;
(b ) A person being the son of a tenant of a holding on the estate;
(c ) A person being the tenant or proprietor of a holding not exceeding five pounds in rateable value, situate in the neighbourhood of the estate; and
(d ) A person who, within twenty-five years before the passing of this Act, was the tenant of a holding to which the Land Law Acts apply, and who is not at the date of the purchase the tenant or proprietor of that holding: Provided that, in the case of the death of a person to whom an advance under this paragraph might otherwise have been made, the advance may be made to a person nominated by the Land Commission as the personal representative of the deceased person.
(2) Advances under this section shall not, together with the amount (if any) of any previous advance under the Land Purchase Acts then unrepaid by the purchaser, exceed one thousand pounds:
Provided that the limitation in this subsection may, subject to the other limitations in the Land Purchase Acts, be exceeded where the Land Commission consider that a larger advance may be sanctioned to any purchaser, without prejudice to the wants and circumstances of other persons residing in the neighbourhood.
(3) The Land Purchase Acts shall, subject to the provisions of this section, apply to the sale of a parcel of land in pursuance of this section, in like manner as if the same was a holding and the purchaser was the tenant thereof at the time of his making the purchase, and the expression ‘holding’ in those Acts shall include a parcel of land in respect of the purchase of which an advance has been made in pursuance of this section.
3 Advances to owners of estates.
(1) Where the owner of an estate has entered into agreements, under the Land Purchase Acts, for the sale to persons other than the Land Commission of the estate, the Land Commission may purchase from him any demesne or other land in his occupation and adjacent to, or in the neighbourhood of, the estate at a price which in their opinion represents the selling value of that land, and in such case may resell the whole or any portion of that land to him; provided that the Land Commission may, if they think it necessary for furthering the purposes of this Act, dispense with the condition in this subsection that the land purchased and resold shall be adjacent to, or in the neighbourhood of, the estate.
(2) Where any land is so resold, or where a parcel of an estate purchased by the Land Commission is resold to the vendor, or (in the case of an estate purchased from the land judge) to the former owner of the estate or a person nominated by the Land Commission as his representative, an advance under the Land Purchase Acts may be made, not exceeding in any case one-third of the aggregate amount of the purchase money of the holdings and other parcels of land comprised in the estate, or twenty thousand pounds, whichever is the less.
(3) In entering into agreements for the resale of any land to the vendor of an estate, the Land Commission shall have regard to the amount of land available for the enlargement of holdings, where they consider such enlargement necessary.
(4) Where any land is resold, in pursuance of this section, a Judicial Commissioner may, if he thinks it equitable, on the application within the prescribed time of any person who, at the date of the sale of the land to the Land Commission, was entitled to any estate in remainder or reversion in that land, order, upon such terms and conditions as he may think reasonable, that the land so resold shall devolve in accordance with the terms of the settlement which, at the date of the sale to the Land Commission, affected it.
(5) If the owner of any demesne or other land subject to settlement and sold to the Land Commission does not repurchase the same within the prescribed time, the Land Commission may make an advance under this section to the trustees of the settlement, and in such case the land resold shall be held subject to the trusts of the settlement.
(6) Any land resold in pursuance of this section shall not be subject to the provisions of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891 , relating to the devolution of freehold registered land.
4 Advances to trustees.
(1) In the case of the sale of an estate advances under the Land Purchase Acts may be made for the purchase, by any trustees approved of by the Land Commission, of any parcel of the estate to be held subject to the provisions of this Act, for the purposes of turbary, pasturage, the raising of sand or gravel, the cutting or gathering of seaweed, the planting of trees or the preservation of game, fish, woods or plantations, or for the purposes of the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, 1883 to 1896, as amended by this Act.
(2) An advance in pursuance of this section may be of such amount as the Lord Lieutenant may sanction.
5 Sanction of advances in cases not within zones.
5. In the case of the sale of an estate where an application for an advance, to which the provisions of subsection one of section one of this Act do not apply, is made, the Land Commission may, subject to the limitations in the Land Purchase Acts, advance the whole or part of the purchase money, if they are satisfied with the security and are of opinion that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the agreed price is equitable.
6 Purchase of estates by Land Commission.
(1) Where the owner of an estate makes an application in the prescribed form to the Land Commission, requesting them to enquire into the circumstances of the estate with a view to the sale thereof under this Part of this Act, the Land Commission may, after due enquiry, propose to purchase the estate, and in estimating the price shall have regard to the foregoing provisions of this Act in respect of advances, and to the prices which the tenants and other persons are willing to give for the holdings and other parcels of land comprised in the estate.
(2) If within the prescribed time...
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