Legislation to protect tenants comes into force

The Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Mr Noel Ahern, has said the enforcement of a landlord's obligation to register as a landlord would be the "top priority" of the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

The board was put on a statutory footing yesterday with the enactment of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2004.

However, while welcoming many of the protections afforded to tenants under the new legislation, opposition parties said they doubted if the provision dealing with the landlord register would be enforced.

Fine Gael's environment spokesman, Mr Bernard Allen, said that without strict enforcement many landlords would continue to offer sub-standard accommodation.

"Up until now it has been the responsibility of the local authority to make sure landlords register but the enforcement simply hasn't been there. When I asked the Minister if the board will have an army of people enforcing this, the answer was no," he said. Mr Allen said while much of the legislation "strikes a balance between landlord and tenant rights", it would not eliminate the practice of landlords evicting tenants by informing them the property they were renting would no longer be available because of planned refurbishments.

Mr Seán Ryan TD (Lab) said while there were an estimated 150,000 tenants in the State, just 20 per cent of landlords had registered with local authorities. "The board now has responsibility for this area and also for deliberating on rent increases where disputes arise. That amounts to a lot of work, yet they only have around 20 staff and a budget of €2.5 million.We would say that the board should be properly resourced."

The Act sets out minimum obligations that would apply to landlords and tenants, even where there is no lease. It provides greater security of tenure. Once a tenant has spent six months living in an accommodation, the tenancy is secure for a further 3½ years, except in specific circumstances provided for in the legislation. After that, a new four-year tenancy cycle begins.

Tenants will be entitled to longer notice periods linked to the length of their tenancy; landlords will not be entitled to seek a rent greater than the market rate; and rent reviews may not occur more than once a year unless warranted by substantial change in the accommodation.