Did you know that there were many Parliamentary Acts passed during the 19th century that changed the rights of tenants? The Renewable Household Act of 1849 enabled tenants who had Leases that extended over the lives of the lesees or their assignees or heirs were entitled to freehold of their property subject to an agreed annual rent to the Lessor. This act must make us rethink how we look at the Griffiths Valuation as many of the Occupiers who were described as tenants under the landed estates were in effect entitled to sell their land with a "charge" for that rent for all freeholders thereafter. e.g. the Goff family of Co Wexford signed a lease in 1692 that was reassigned over generations. They gained freehold rights over that leased land under the 1849 Act. The charge attached to that title continued until it was paid out in the 1960s. Sound complicated - join one of our meetings to find out how it all worked.