In English and Irish law, a fee farm grant is a hybrid type of land ownership typical in cities and towns. The word ''fee'' is derived from

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

or fiefdom, meaning a feudal landholding, and a fee farm grant is similar to a fee simple in the sense that it gives the grantee the right to hold a freehold estate, the only difference being the payment of an annual rent ("

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

" being an archaic word for rent) and covenants, thus putting both parties in a landlord-tenant relationship.

Types

Fee farm grants fall into three categories: * Feudal fee farm grants The ban on subinfeudation in the fee simple did not apply to land granted after ''

Quia Emptores ''Quia Emptores'' is a statute passed by the Parliament of England in 1290 during the reign of Edward I that prevented tenants from alienating their lands to others by subinfeudation, instead requiring all tenants who wished to alienate the ...

'' to supporters of the Crown. These new estates (many of which were created after the 17th-century plantations) were thus regularly divided into subtenures as fee farm grants. * Conversion fee farm grants Any perpetually renewable leases for life were converted into fee farm grants after the enactment of the Renewable Leasehold Conversion Act 1849. This act also allowed any existing lessees for lives to convert their holding into a fee farm grant. * Express fee farm grants The Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment (Ireland) Act 1860 (i.e. Deasy's Act) allowed for the creation of express fee farm grants.

Reform

In Ireland the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (Section 12) does not allow the creation of any new fee farm grants, and where any such attempt is made a fee simple is automatically created instead. The act did not alter the status of any existing fee farm grants.

Etymology

* Fee – A right in law to the use of land; i.e. a

. *

Farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

– a fixed yearly amount of rent or other payment (from the

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

''ferma'', ''firma'').Oxford English Dictionary online ''farm''
accessed 10 January 2011 * Grant – transfer of property by deed of conveyance.

Notes

External links

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009
DF* Law Reform Commission (200
Report on Land Law and Conveyancing Law
DF {{DEFAULTSORT:Fee Farm Grant Property law of Ireland English property law Feudalism in the British Isles

Types

Reform

Etymology

See also

Notes

External links