Source: http://healysolicitors.ie/residential-tenancies-act/
Timestamp: 2020-01-19 07:25:26
Document Index: 785975075

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 7', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 6']

The Residential Tenancies Act - A Summary
February 2nd, 2018 Posted by admin Property 0 thoughts on “The Residential Tenancies Act – A Summary”
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2004 applies to the mainstream private rented sector. However, it does not apply to:
• owner-occupied accommodation or ‘rent a room’ arrangements
• the formerly rent-controlled sector
• long occupation equity tenancies
• business lettings
Part 7 of the act states that Landlords have to register details of all their tenancies with the PRTB within 3 months and a failure to register a tenancy is an offence. Changes to rent must also be noted. Tenants must supply landlords with the information they need to complete the registration form, including their PPS number.
Under Part 2 of the act there are certain obligations which must be adhered to whether or not there is a lease or written agreement and landlords and tenants cannot contract out of them. Additional obligations can be included in a lease.
keep the landlord informed of the identity of the occupants,
Under Part 3 rent may not be greater than the open market rate and may be reviewed once a year only unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation that warrants a review. Tenants are to be given 28 days’ notice of new rents.
Tenants may ask their landlord to review the rent if they feel it exceeds the market rate for the property – if more than a year has elapsed since the last rent review, tenants may seek a review. Disputes about any aspect of rent may be referred to the PTRB.
Under Part 4 of the act security of tenure is based on 4-year cycles.
The landlord can terminate without specifying grounds during the first 6 months, after this the landlord will be able to terminate a tenancy (known as a “Part 4 tenancy”) during the following three and a half years only if any of the following apply;
the dwelling is no longer suited to the occupant’s accommodation needs (e.g. overcrowded)
the landlord intends to refurbish the dwelling – the landlord intends to change the business use of the dwelling.
Where a landlord seeks to terminate a tenancy on one of these grounds it is vital that they serve the correct notice of termination and one of the 6 reasons listed above must be cited. The length of notice will depend on the length of the tenancy.
3 years or more but less than 4 years 84 days 56 days
Shorter notice periods apply where termination is for noncompliance with tenancy obligations (7 days for serious anti-social behaviour, 28 days for other breaches) and the parties may also agree a shorter notice period at the time of termination.
Under Part 6 of the act, disputes arising between landlords and tenants are referred to the PRTB instead of the courts. Either the landlord or tenant can initiate the process.
A Tribunal decision may be appealed to the High Court on a point of law only. The enforcement of determination orders of the Board that are not complied with will be through the Circuit Court.
The Board may award damages of up to 20,000 and arrears of rent of up to 20,000 or twice the annual rent, whichever is greater (but a maximum of 60,000 applies to rent arrears awards). Cases involving amounts greater than these will have to be taken through the courts. The Board will have power to apply to the courts for injunctive type relief in the case of very serious emergency cases coming before it, e.g. illegal evictions, threat to life, etc.