Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have some information on the constitutional position and indeed the constitutional protection for ground rents, which I will share with the committee. In its ninth progress report, Private Property, which was published in 2004, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution examined the issue of the constitutional protection for ground rents. Based on the analysis, including relevant case law, the committee concluded that a ground rent is a species of property right which is protected both by Articles 40.3.2° and Article 43 of the Constitution. This means that any abolition of ground rents would be unconstitutional in the absence of financial compensation. That is the basis on which the ground rents purchase scheme has been structured since the right of a tenant to acquire the freehold title was introduced in the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1967.

I will set out the current situation on ground rents. The Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 already provides a statutory scheme for the acquisition of the fee simple by the owners of dwelling houses. Part III of that Act provides a special procedure operated at low cost by the Property Registration Authority whereby owner occupiers of dwelling houses may acquire readily and relatively inexpensively the freehold title in their property. The Act contains a mechanism for the handling of applications in cases where the consent of all parties is not forthcoming or where the ground rent landlord cannot be found. Over 80,000 freehold titles have been acquired under this scheme. Of course, there is no obstacle to a tenant negotiating directly with the owner of the ground rent for its purchase without reference to the Act.