Being A Tenant

It is important for all students looking for accommodation to be aware of their rights and responsibilities as tenants. Below you will find some key facts you should be aware of when renting for the first time. Please note that these points do not apply to owner occupier rentals. Your main rights and responsibilities as a tenant come from landlord and tenant law, as well as from the lease or tenancy agreement you have with your landlord.

Useful Links and Publications

Listed below are links and publication’s that may be helpful when navigating tenancy information.

General Tenants’ Rights and Responsibilities

Rights:

• You and your neighbours are entitled to quiet and exclusive enjoyment of your homes. If noise from other tenants or neighbours is disturbing you, ask them to stop and also inform your landlord.
• You are entitled to certain minimum standards of accommodation.
• Once your rent has been set, your landlord cannot increase it for one year.
• You are entitled to a rent book and receipts of payment.
• You have the right to contact the landlord or their agent at any reasonable times. You are also entitled to have appropriate contact information (telephone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, etc.).
• Your landlord is only allowed to enter your home with your permission. If the landlord needs to carry out repairs or inspect the premises, it should be by prior arrangement, except in an emergency.
• You are entitled to reimbursement for any repairs that you carry out that are the landlord's responsibility.
• You are entitled to have visitors to stay overnight or for short periods, unless specifically forbidden in your tenancy agreement. You must tell your landlord if you have an extra person moving in to the property.
• Both you and your landlord are entitled to a certain amount of notice should either party decide to end the  tenancy. Notice periods can be found below.
• You are entitled to refer any disputes to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) without being penalised for doing so.
• Landlords are obliged to register all tenancies with the RTB. You will be notified by the RTB via post once this has been done.
• All homes for rent must have a Building Energy Rating (BER), stating how energy-efficient the home is. This will help you to make an informed choice when comparing properties to rent.

Responsibilities:

• Pay your rent on time
• Pay any other charges that are specified in the letting agreement, for example, waste collection charges; utility bills; management fees to the management company in an apartment complex
• Keep the property in good order
• Inform the landlord if repairs are needed and give the landlord access to the property to do the repairs
• Give the landlord access (by appointment) for routine inspections
• Inform the landlord about who is living in the property
• Avoid causing damage or nuisance
• Make sure that you do not cause the landlord to be in breach of the law
• Comply with any special terms in your tenancy agreement, oral or written
• Give the landlord the information they need to register with the RTB
• Give the landlord proper notice when you are ending the tenancy

You should note that it may be more difficult to assert your rights if you have broken conditions of your tenancy.

Rights in Student-specific Accommodation

Student-specific accommodation (SSA) is housing that is:

• Built or designated for students
• Used solely to provide residential accommodation to students during the academic term

Tenants in student-specific accommodation are protected in residential tenancies legislation. They have most of the same rights as private tenants. For example, you can access the RTB’s dispute resolution process and your tenancy or licence arrangement must be registered with the RTB. However, there are some differences:

• You do not have security of tenure. This came in under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019
• You cannot be forced to pay for student-specific accommodation during the summer when you don’t need it. Your tenancy or licence arrangement should not be more than 41 weeks, unless you ask for longer.
• You only need to give your landlord 28 days’ notice when ending a tenancy. You can give your landlord more notice if you want and your landlord must give you more.
• You can terminate your fixed-term tenancy any time between 1 May and 1 October each year for any reason. But, outside of these dates, the existing rules about ending a fixed-term tenancy apply and you can only terminate your tenancy for specific reasons.

Rights in Owner-occupied Rentals (Digs)

In legal terms the agreement between landlord and renter, a licensee in this case, in owner occupied rentals is considered a contract rather than a tenacy. As such the renter, known as a licensee in this case, does not have the protections given to a tenant by the Residential Tenacies Act. For this reason it is very important that you have a written contract with the landlord and you are happy with all the points of this agreement. 

You should ensure that the contract:

• Protects against any rent increases within a reasonable period, ideally a full year.
• Stipulates the terms for ending the agreement. 
• Lays out notice periods. 
• Identifies penalties for ending the agreement early.

Monetary disputes with your landlord can be referred to the Small Claims Court.

Paying and Returning Your Deposit

You will probably have to pay a security deposit when you agree to rent a property. The landlord holds this deposit as security to cover any rent arrears, bills owing or damage beyond normal wear and tear at the end of the tenancy.

Rules about deposits and upfront payments

You cannot be forced to make upfront payments of more than 2 month’s rent. This includes a deposit of a month’s rent and one month’s rent in advance. 

Students in student-specific tenancies can opt-out of this restriction and pay a larger upfront payment if they want. However, this opt-out is only allowed if the student is paying rent and tuition to the same provider, such as a public or private educational provider.

List of the property’s contents and their condition 

Your landlord must give you an inventory of the contents of the property. You should keep a record of the condition of everything that is listed, taking photos if possible, and agree this in writing with your landlord.

Getting a deposit back

When you leave a property at the end of the agreed rental period or after giving the agreed notice, the landlord must return your security deposit, promptly and in full.

When can a landlord keep a deposit?

If you leave before the end of the agreed period, the landlord may keep your deposit, even if you have given notice. (You may also be liable for the amount of rent due until the end of the lease, depending on what is stated in the lease agreement.)

The landlord may keep part or all of the deposit in the following situations:

• Rent arrears
• Unpaid bills
• Damage above normal wear and tear
• If you have not given enough notice

The landlord cannot hold your possessions against money you owe, but they can apply to the RTB if they feel that your deposit does not cover rent arrears or the cost of damage to the property.