I propose to take Questions Nos. 637 to 639, inclusive, together.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as a quasi-judicial, independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022, to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants.
All RTB mediators, adjudicators and tribunal members have independent decision-making powers in the performance of its dispute resolution service. I have no function in the operational matters of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) which is an independent quasi-judicial body, however it is open to a member of the public, including or tenants, to raise a case with the RTB.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 provides for relevant rights and obligations to apply to tenancy and licence agreements in student-specific accommodation, provided by public educational institutions and private accommodation providers. For example, the rent increase restriction that applies in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) applies to student-specific accommodation and recourse is available to the RTB where disputes arise.
Under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019, the RTB was given additional functions in the form of investigation and sanctioning powers. Part 7A of the Residential Tenancies Acts empowers the RTB to investigate improper conduct by landlords and to impose sanctions, if warranted. Significantly, an investigation can be initiated by the RTB without a complaint having to be made. The RTB's Investigations and Sanctions Unit can start an investigation either as a result of information received from members of the public or on foot of information gathered from records that the RTB has access to under the Residential Tenancies Acts. That unit investigates certain potential breaches of rental law by a landlord referred to as ‘improper conduct’ under Schedule 2 to the Acts, including the contravention of the rent increase restrictions in RPZs and exemptions thereto and the seeking of payments in contravention of section 19B of the Acts.
Section 19B applies to tenancies created on or after 9 August 2021, to restrict the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy to no more than the equivalent of two months’ rent (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed one month’s rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed one month’s rent). A restriction of the equivalent of one month’s rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy. These measures are intended to greatly reduce any financial exposure to tenants.
If a landlord is found to have engaged in improper conduct, an independent RTB decision maker may impose a sanction comprising one or all of the following: a written caution; a financial penalty of up to €15,000; and up to €15,000 in RTB investigation costs.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 legally tightened the exemptions from rent controls in RPZs. The rent controls operate within and across tenancies. Since 2019, an exemption applies to the first rent setting only in respect of a tenancy of a dwelling where:
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling during the two years immediately prior to this current tenancy beginning;
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling where the dwelling is a protected structure, or is in a protected structure or is a proposed protected structure during the 12 months immediately prior to the current tenancy beginning (a protected structure is defined in the Planning and Development Act 2000); or
• there has been a substantial change in the nature of rental accommodation.
The 2019 Act also provides a legal definition of ‘substantial change in the nature of rental accommodation’ to illustrate the type of works to be carried out to a rental property to qualify for a once-off exemption from RPZ rent controls in respect of the first rent setting after such works.
Such works shall result in:
• a permanent extension increasing the floor area by 25%;
• an improvement in the Building Energy Rating (BER) by at least 7 ratings; or
• at least 3 of the following:
1. a permanent alteration of the internal layout;
2. adaptations for a person with a disability;
3. a permanent increase in the number of rooms;
4. an improvement in the BER by 3 or more ratings where the original BER was D1 or lower; or
5. an improvement in the BER by 2 or more ratings where the original BER was C3 or higher.
Landlords are legally required to notify the RTB that they are relying on an exemption to the RPZ rent cap within one month of the setting of the new rent under the tenancy, and to provide supporting information setting out why the landlord is of the opinion that the exemption applies to the dwelling in question. Failing to notify the RTB, could result in a sanction being imposed on the landlord or prosecution.
