The Gazette 1996

JULY 1996

GAZETTE

L A W B R I E F

Rented - Accommodation - The Duties of Landlords

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notify the local authority in writing. The local authority will then either delete the entry from the register or note on the register that the accommodation is no longer let. The landlord must apply for registration in writing to the local authority on a standard form which is supplied free of charge by the local authority. In the registration form, the landlord is obliged to supply the f o l l ow i ng information in respect of each letting: • the address of the accommodation; • a description of the accommodation, e.g. a whole house, an apartment, a flat, a single room etc.; • the name and address of the landlord and, if the landlord has duly appointed an agent, the name and address of such agent; • the name of the tenant; and • the rent and how is it to be paid or the value or nature of any consideration. Landlords who let accommodation owe a myriad of strict statutory duties to tenants. Howe v e r, not all of the above information will be included in the register. The local authority will include the address and description of the a c c ommoda t i on and the date of receipt by the local authority of the application. The register is kept by the local authority and available for public inspection by any person during normal o f f i ce hours.

by Dr. Eamonn G. Hall

Introduction Regulations made in recent times governing rented a c c ommo d a t i on constitute in the words of the Department of the Environment a "Charter" for landlords and tenants. This note endeavours to provide an o v e r v i ew of recent legislation governing the legal duties of landlords. The principal law is to be found in the Housing (Registration of Rented Houses) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 3 0 of 1996), the Housing (Rent Books) Regulations, 1993 (S.I. No. 146 of 1993) and the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 1993 (S.I. No. 147 of 1993). This note d o es not deal with dwe l l i n gs which were formerly controlled under the Rent Restrictions Acts. Th e se dwe l l i n gs are | registered under a different c o de and ! tenants have a separate legal entitlement to rent books. Howe v e r, formerly controlled dwe l l i n gs are [ subject to the current legal standards applying to rented a c c ommo d a t i o n. Houses, apartments, flats, maisonettes, etc., but not mobile h omes or caravans, ! let for rent or "other valuable J consideration" must be registered with the local housing authority (county council, corporation or urban district council) under the Housing (Registration of Rented Houses) Regulations, 1996. There are certain exemptions for accommodation let by a voluntary housing body, where the landlord is a resident landlord in certain circumstances, accommodation let for certain relatives of the landlord, accommodation let to meet the temporary convenience of a landlord or tenant, or for holiday purposes. Registration of Rented ! Accommodation

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If the rented a c c ommo d a t i on was let on May 1, 1996 the landlord must apply to the local authority to register such a c c ommo d a t i on within t wo months of that date. If the a c c ommo d a t i on is let after May 1, 1996 the landlord must apply to the local authority to register it within o ne month of the letting. Each initial application for registration must be accompanied by a fee of £40. Thereafter there is an annual fee of £ 4 0 payable in respect of each rented accommodation. The landlord is not under a duty to re-register the accommodation every time the rent changes or a new tenant is appointed. | However, the landlord must update the information to the local authority on an annual basis. Where the accommodation ceases to be let and has not been re-let, I the landlord or his advisers should

Rent Books

A landlord must supply a rent book to every tenant paying rent for

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