PART I.

Preliminary and General.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on the 31st day of December, 1960.

2. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1946” means the Rent Restrictions Act, 1946 ;

“basic rent” means, in relation to a controlled dwelling, the basic rent of the dwelling determined under section 7 , section 8 or section 9 (as the case may be) of this Act

“controlled dwelling” means any dwelling to which, by virtue of section 3 of this Act, the Act applies;

“District Justice” means a Justice of the District Court;

“dwelling” means a house let as a separate dwelling, or a part, so let, of any house, whether or not the tenant shares with any other persons any portion thereof or any accommodation, amenity or facility in connection therewith;

“the former enactments relating to restriction of rent” means—

(a) the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act, 1915,

(b) the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1919,

(c) the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1920,

(d) the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Acts, 1923 to 1930,

(e) the Emergency Powers (No. 313) Order, 1944, and the Emergency Powers (No. 313) Order, 1944 (Amendment) Order, 1945, and

(f) the Rent Restrictions Acts, 1946 to 1959;

“landlord”, when used in relation to any dwelling, includes any person from time to time deriving title under the original landlord of the dwelling, and also includes any person, other than the tenant, who is or would but for this Act be entitled to possession of the dwelling;

“lawful addition” means, in relation to the basic rent of a controlled dwelling, any sum which is, by virtue of section 10 of this Act, a lawful addition to the basic rent;

“lawful rent” means, in relation to a controlled dwelling, the sum declared by section 11 of this Act to be the lawful rent of the dwelling;

“let” includes sublet;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“non-statutory tenant” means a tenant who is not a statutory tenant;

“the operative date” means the date of the commencement of this Act, that is to say, the 31st day of December, 1960;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations made under this Act;

“rates” means, in relation to a controlled dwelling, the rates (including water rates) which are made by a local authority (being the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, or the council of an urban district) in respect of the dwelling for the service of any local financial year and which by any Act are, or but for any Act would be, chargeable on the occupier of the dwelling;

“statutory tenancy” means the interest of a statutory tenant in the dwelling in relation to which the expression is used;

“statutory tenant” means a person being either—

(a) a person who retains possession of any controlled dwelling after his contractual tenancy therein (not being a tenancy to which section 37 of this Act applies) has terminated, or

(b) a person who retains possession of any controlled dwelling under subsection (2), subsection (3) or subsection (4) of section 31 of this Act, or

(c) a person who retains possession of any controlled dwelling under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) or under paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 32 of this Act, or

(d) a person who retains possession of any controlled dwelling under section 52 of this Act;

“tenant” includes in relation to any dwelling a statutory tenant, and includes any person from time to time deriving title under the original tenant, and also includes a subtenant.

(2) References in this Act to an order for the recovery of possession of a controlled dwelling shall be construed as including references to an order for ejectment of a tenant therefrom.

(3) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment.

3. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, this Act applies to every dwelling.

(2) This Act does not apply to—

(a) a dwelling the rateable valuation of which exceeds—

(i) in case the dwelling is situate in the county borough of Dublin or the borough of Dún Laoghaire, sixty pounds,

(ii) in any other case, forty pounds,

(b) a dwelling erected after, or in course of being erected on, the 7th day of May, 1941,

(c) a dwelling the letting of which is under the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1958, or the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1958,

(d) a dwelling let at a rent (hereinafter called the reserved rent) which includes payments for board, attendance or the use of furniture, or for the supply to the dwelling of heat, hot water, fuel, electricity or any other commodity or for the rendering of any services in connection with the dwelling, unless, on apportionment of the reserved rent by the Court, the portion of the reserved rent which, in the opinion of the Court, is attributable to the dwelling alone equals or exceeds three quarters of the reserved rent, in which case the rent of the dwelling shall be taken, for the purposes of this Act, to be the portion of the reserved rent so attributable to the dwelling alone,

(e) a house which at the commencement of this Act is occupied by the owner thereof for the purposes of his own residence, or thereafter becomes so occupied,

(f) a house of which the landlord is, at the commencement of this Act, in possession or thereafter comes into possession and the rateable valuation whereof exceeds—

(i) in case the house is situate in the county borough of Dublin or the borough of Dún Laoghaire, thirty pounds,

(ii) in any other case, twenty-five pounds,

(g) a dwelling which is a separate and self-contained flat forming part of any buildings which, after the commencement of this Act, were reconstructed by way of conversion into two or more separate and self-contained flats,

(h) a dwelling let together with land other than the site of the dwelling, if the rateable valuation of the land exceeds the lesser of the following:

(i) half the rateable valuation of the site including the building or buildings thereon, or

(ii) (I) in case the dwelling is situate in the county borough of Dublin or the borough of Dún Laoghaire, ten pounds,

(II) in any other case, five pounds.

(3) The application of this Act to a dwelling forming part of a house (other than a house erected after, or in course of being erected on, the 7th day of May, 1941, or a house the letting of which is under the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1958, or the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1958) shall not be excluded by reason only of the fact that this Act does not apply to the house.

(4) Where the rateable valuation of a dwelling is increased and thereby the valuation becomes a valuation which exceeds—

(a) in case the dwelling is situate in the county borough of Dublin or the borough of Dún Laoghaire, sixty pounds, or

(b) in any other case, forty pounds,

this Act shall, notwithstanding paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section, continue to apply to the dwelling unless and until the landlord comes into possession thereof.

(5) Where, immediately before the commencement of this Act,—

(a) a dwelling stood let together with land other than the site of the dwelling, and

(b) the Act of 1946 applied to the dwelling.

this Act shall, notwithstanding paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of this section, apply to the dwelling unless and until the landlord comes into possession thereof.

(6) In paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of this section “owner” includes a person having any estate or interest in the house except under a contract of tenancy not being for more than a term of twenty-one years.

(7) In paragraph (f) of subsection (2) and in subsections (4) and (5) of this section “possession” means actual possession, and a landlord shall not be deemed to have come into possession by reason only of a change of tenancy made with his consent.

4. —The application of this Act to a dwelling shall not be excluded by reason only of the fact that part of it is used for the purposes of any business, trade or profession.

5. —(1) The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(2) References in any Act passed before the passing of this Act to the Rent Restrictions Acts, 1946 to 1959, or to any of those Acts, shall be construed as references to this Act.

6. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.