- The normal landlord and tenant laws do not cover this situation and/or any disputes that may arise
- It is recommended in these arrangements that both parties draw up a written agreement, referred to as a license to reisde, to cover issues such as access to accommodation, deposits, rent, visitor's, overnight guests, bills, house rules and notice requirements. As a landlord this is very important to avoid conflict/disputes during the tenancy.
Threshold is a national housing charity that provides housing advice, advocacy and support services for those that live in the private rented sector and has offices in Dublin, Galway and Cork.
The following
Landlord Guide
might provide guidance even though your property is owner occupied.
For further information on the rent a room scheme which you can avail of €14,000 tax free income is explained in this link.
The Irish Property Owners Association can provide assistance to your and offer many resources such as a sample license to reside.
As a landlord renting a house or apartment the following information offers some guidance.
The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established in 2004 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.
Here is a
Landlord Guide
It also provides policy advice to the Government on the private rented sector, and its dispute resolution service replaces the courts in relation to the majority of landlord and tenant disputes.
As indicated on the PRTB website; 'By law, a landlord cannot refuse to rent a property to any prospective tenant because of their gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the travelling community'.
As a Landlord, you must:
- Register the tenancy agreement with the PRTB. If you do not register then you will not be able to avail of the PRTB’s dispute resolutions service and you may be prosecuted.
- Provide your tenant with a rent book (if no written lease is in place) and receipts of payment
- Make sure that your property is in good condition
- Maintain the property to the standard it was at the start of the tenancy
- Reimburse the tenants for any repairs carried out on the structure
- Insure the property
- Provide you tenant with information and contact details of any agent who deals on your behalf.
As a landlord/new landlord you may wish to visit www.irishlandlord.com or www.ipoa.ie where you will find additional information.
Other useful resourses are Threshold and the PRTB.
See
PRTB Poster
.
Landlord Access to Accommodation once rented:
- Allowing person/s renting to "peacefully enjoy" their accommodation (unless there is an emergency)
- Agents/Landlords have the right to enter the property at reasonable times to carry out the repairs for which they are responsible and to inspect the condition and the state of repair of the property. They must give at least 24 hours notice in writing of an inspection. It would be helpful to set out the arrangements for access and procedures for getting repairs done in the tenancy agreement or a written arrangement. See PRTB website for further details.
Landlords are responsible for keeping dwelling in repair:
- The structure and exterior of the dwelling house, including drains, gutters, and external pipes
- Proper working order the installations for the supply of water, gas, and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, and for heating rooms and heating water
Rates charged for accommodations vary depending on area, type/size of accommodation, no. of nights, facilities, meal plans offered and it is up to individual landlords to decide what pricing works for them. For properties where transport costs are involved then consider reducing price to keep your accommodation competitive with Maynooth.
- If you wish to know more about pricing in all areas then check out any of the online property websites such as Daft.ie and also check out the homepage of Maynooth Studentpad website and view the Fact Finder. The fact finder will give you an idea of rent being advertised on the database in real time, taken directly from what is available on the database at that time.
- If you do not get activity on your advert then consider the price you have chosen as sometimes this can be a key factor for students.
Incentives
Many landlords offering owner occupied accommodation allow students the following holidays at no charge (2 weeks at Christmas and 1 week at Easter) and some do not charge for study/exam weeks If you intend to offer this(or any incentive) to students you can note this on your property information and also put this in writing to students.
If you do not intend to offer any week at no charge then it is important to put this in writing. You can check the for study week and exam week dates on our website.
Please visit the Revenue Office website for the latest tax information.
For further information on the rent a room scheme which you can avail of €14,000 tax free income is explained in this link.
Help is always available however it is important that landlords are responsible for the managment of their own property profiles and adverts.
- If you are experiencing difficulties, you should check out the useful guides available on our website.
- All guides can be found by clicking here
- Each year at regular intervals, we offer Landlord Information Sessions where we will assist you with using the database. We will write to you via email advising of these information sessions.
- Remember: Once you have logged in and created your user account there is an Information Tab where you can find helpful information from statistics on pricing.
