Ripley, Tenant; MacNaghten, Landlord

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 06 June 1898
• Date: 06 June 1896
• Court: Land Commission (Ireland)

RIPLEY,

TENANT;

MACNAGHTEN,

LANDLORD

Land Com.

Landlord and tenant —— Fair rent — Competitive value — Occupation interest.

Curneen v. Tottenham [1896] 2 Ir. Rep. 363.

446 THE IRISH REPORTS. [1899. The remainder of the schedule deals with valuation dependent Appeal. 1698. upon certain specified matters of fact. Now, I think the true THE QUEEN inference to be drawn from the handing of this document to the V. LAND valuers, and the true construction of the paper that accompanied commISSIOls,• it, is that the valuers were asked to state their concurrence or dis Holmes, L.J. agreement with it in so far as it was a valuation, and on the basis of the matters of fact set forth therein. That this was what was understood by the Land Commission appears from the letter of March, 1897, in which it is called a valuation. I should have so regarded it, if I lead received it myself as a valuer ; and the inÂtendment of the law being in favour of what is lawful, I have no hesitation in so construing it. For these reasons I am of opinion that the Land Commission did not deprive itself of jurisdiction by this reference. The conÂditional order, therefore, cannot be supported on either ground. Solicitors for the Earl of Gosford : Monroe 81. Anderson. Solicitor for the Irish Land Commission : Alexander. R. D. M. Land Cont. 1898, RIPLEY, TENANT; MACN A GHTEN, LANDLORD (1). June 6. Landlord and tenant—Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1896, sect. 1, sub-sect. (1) (a) —Fair rent—Competitive value—Occupation interest. The ascertainment of a fair rent under the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1896, sect. 1, sub-sect. (1) (a) should not proceed upon the basis that the holding is in the landlord's hands free from any tenancy and available for letting to a solvent and prudent tenant desirous of acquiring a permanent as distinguished from a temporary tenancy ; inasmuch as the assumption that the holding is in the landlord's hands would necessarily involve the element of competitive value, which ought to be excluded in estimating a fair rent. No deduction is to be made from such rent in respect of occupation interest. This appeal was heard at Armagh. The question submitted to the Court for its consideration was, whether the annual sum VOL. ii.] QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. 447 referred to in paragraph (a) of sect. 1, sub-sect. (1), of the Land Land Cone. Law (Ireland) Act of 1896, was the annual sum at which, after all 1898' the circumstances of the case, holding, and district, have been taken 11"'Y' Tenant; into consideration, the holding in the landlord's hands might MACNAGIITEN a reasonably be expected to let from year to year to a solvent and Lndlor d. prudent tenant, who desired to derive a benefit from the occupaÂtion of the tenement and not from its sale ; and whether the fair rent of the holding in paragraph (g) of the same sub-section (or the net fair rent), was the gross fair rent, less a reasonable annual allowance in respect of the sum which would represent the present value of the improvements. Mr. Peel, solicitor, represented the tenant. C. Murphy, for the landlord. MEREDITH, J. :— In this and other cases in the same estate, Mr. Murphy, as counsel on behalf of the landlord, contended that the principles upon which a fair rent should be fixed must have been disregarded by the Sub-Commissioners and the Court valuers alike. He argued that the evidence produced before us on behalf of the landÂlord demonstrated that consciously or unconsciously a deduction in respect of what is familiarly known as " occupation interest " had been made from the gross fair rent, and he urged that any such deduction was illegal and improper, and that it had been established by the cases of Markey v. Lord Gosford (1) and the Queen (Lord Gosford) v. The Irish Land Commission (2), that it was the duty of this Court when ascertaining (in accordance with the provisions of section 1, sub-sect. (1) (a), of the Land Act of 1896), " the annual sum...