Landlords to pass on new Eur70 registration fee

Landlords are to pass on a new €70 registration fee to tenants because they cannot afford to absorb the costs themselves, the Irish Property Owners' Association said yesterday.

From today, landlords have three months to register with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), a State-funded board which will operate a new tenancy registration system.

However, the 3,000-member Irish Property Owners' Association (IPOA) says landlords should not have to pay the fee themselves, given that they are already paying "significant amounts" on maintenance and tax.

The association's chairman, Mr Fintan McNamara, said: "There is a limit to what we can do. We already pay for ongoing maintenance, repair and taxes. We'd like to have a much fairer system."

However, Threshold, the tenants' support agency, is instructing tenants not to pay the charge if landlords choose to pass it on.

"If landlords go down this route, we'll advise them not to pay. We are seeking legal advice and would like the Minister or the board to make a statement on the matter," said Threshold spokesman, Mr Bob Jordan.

The board yesterday declined to comment. However, officials privately believe many landlords will choose not to pass on the cost due to increased competition in the rental market.

Landlords will also be entitled to claim tax relief in relation to the fee, as it is considered part of the cost of letting, bringing the real cost closer to around €40.

At present around 20 per cent of an estimated 150,000 rental properties are accounted for under the existing local authority registration system.

The director of the PRTB, Mr Brian O'Neill, told The Irish Times he expects this figure may rise to around 80 per cent under the new system.

"The carrot this time for the landlord is that if the tenant is not registered and runs into trouble, the landlord can't avail of the dispute resolution service," he said.

Landlords also face double registration fees for failing to register on time, while anyone who refuses to register faces penalties of up to €3,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to three months.

The Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Mr Noel Ahern, conceded yesterday that the previous registration system had been a "failure", but he was hopeful the new system would work. "Resolving disputes in the past was slow, cumbersome and expensive.

"This system includes an easy resolution mechanism. This is good for all sides, although it will take time to build up," he said.

Mr Ahern said the old system failed because it was not proactively enforced by local authorities. However, the new board will have access to a range of new information which will help it identify unregistered landlords more easily.

For example, while there are around 26,000 tenancies registered at present, there are around 60,000 tenancies on rent allowance. Information from the Department of Social Welfare will help identify many of these landlords.