In a decision by Judge John O’Connor of the Circuit Court the court handed down the decision which was both very interesting and important in the context of landlord and tenant relationships.
This was a case where the tenant (Crown Paints) had been in occupation of a property for 10 years between August 2008 and 2018 in accordance with the Landlord and Tenant legislation. Unfortunately it was not possible for the two parties to agree the terms of the new tenancy following which the landlord issued proceedings in June 2019. It asked the court to decide on Crown Paints’ entitlements and if it it did find that it was entitled to a lease, it asked the court to fix the term of the tenancy and the rent payable.
Ultimately the case revolved around significant delay in bringing forward the case and in November 2022 Crown Paints informed that landlords that it was withdrawing its claim to a new tenancy. At this stage it had been in occupation in excess of four years following the expiry of its lease. The landlord continued its proceedings and argued that the tenant was obliged to pay the increased market rent from the period of the ending of the previous lease to the time that it withdrew its claim for a new lease.
The Circuit Court held that there was nothing in the legislation which governed this particular situation and did not believe that the tenant had delayed the application for a new tenancy to the extent that it constituted an ‘abusive’ process and as such he found that in the absence of anything in the legislation governing this situation, he rejected the landlords application for an order directing the increased rate of rent to be paid for the four-year period in which the tenant was overholding.
He said he would deal with the costs of the application at a later stage.
This case is a further reminder of the importance of reviewing the relevant legislation to see that if the rent that is being sought is provided for in the legislation.
For further information on any property/landlord related issues please don’t hesitate to contact Donna Phelan, Pauline Horkan or Sally Ann McCoy at 01 296 0666.
