Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 November 2004
108 Ms O’Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the practice whereby landlords are passing on to their tenants the €70 fee they are required to pay to register with the Residential Tenancies Board; if he plans to take action against landlords who are found passing this fee on to tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27336/04]
View answer
Landlords may only seek from tenants the rent or other charges agreed to at the commencement of the letting. Under Part 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, which will come into operation later this year, a rent review may only occur once per annum unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation in the interim. It will also be unlawful to seek a rent greater than the open market rate, so a rent increase would not be possible if the market trend is stable or downward. In any event, competitiveness in the market should preclude registration costs being passed on.
The registration fee under Part 7 of the 2004 Act, which came into operation on 1 September 2004, is €70 per tenancy. The net cost can be as low as €10.15 per tenancy per annum because the fee will cover a tenancy for up to four years and is a tax-allowable letting expense. The single, and potentially multi-annual, registration fee of €70 per tenancy replaces an annual fee per tenancy of €51 that landlords had previously been liable to pay to local authorities. For many landlords, therefore, registration cost may be significantly reduced.
