Section 47 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 extends the opt out (or contracting out) provisions to all tenants of business premises provided the tenant has obtained independent legal advice and signed a deed of renunciation. These changes came into force at midnight on 20th July 2008
The Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 provides that any tenant (regardless of user) can contract out of its renewal rights under the Landlord and Tenant Acts. This option, which under the 1994 Act, was only available to office tenants, will now be available to all tenants. In effect this will mean that the standard four year nine month tenancies will cease to be used and parties will enter into longer term leases. To facilitate a valid contracting out of the Act, the tenant must receive independent legal advice regarding that specific matter and he must execute a formal renunciation.
It is acknowledged that in Ireland, unlike the UK, there is no reported incident of ICT operators enforcing rights to claim a new tenancy at the end of an old tenancy. Nevertheless, in the future no one can predict whether ICT tenants choose to avail of the tenancy rights granted to them under landlord and tenant legislation.
