Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act , 1982

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

2 Interpretation generally.

2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Court” means the District Court;

“dwelling” means a house let as a separate dwelling, or a part so let, of any house, whether or not the tenant shares with any other persons any portion thereof or any accommodation, amenity or facility in connection therewith;

“housing authority” means—-

(a) in the case of a county, exclusive of any borough or urban district therein, the council of the county,

(b) in the case of a county or other borough, the corporation of the borough, and

(c) in the case of an urban district, the council of the district,

and references to the functional area of a housing authority shall be construed accordingly;

“landlord” means the person for the time being entitled to receive (otherwise than as agent for another person) the rent payable in respect of a dwelling;

“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment.

(2) A reference in this Act to a Part or a section is to a Part or a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(3) A reference in this Act to a subsection, paragraph or other division is to the subsection, paragraph or other division of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3 Expenses.

3.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

4 Service of notices.

4.—(1) Where a notice or claim under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is to be given to or served on a person, it shall be addressed to him and shall be given to or served on him in some one of the following ways:

(a) where it is addressed to him by name, by delivering it to him;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address;

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to him at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a company registered under the Companies Acts, 1963 and 1977, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

(3) Where a notice or claim under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is given or served on behalf of a person, it shall be deemed to be given or served by that person.

5 Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.

5.—Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

6 Repeals.

6.—The Rent Restrictions Act, 1960, the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967, and sections 10 and 11 of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1971, are hereby repealed.

PART II Tenancies of Certain Dwellings

7 Interpretation (Part II).

7.—(1) In this Part, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1980” means the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1980;

“dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates” means a dwelling to which, by virtue of that provision, this Part applies;

“improvement” means any addition to or alteration of a dwelling carried out by the tenant or any of his predecessors in title on or after the 31st day of December, 1960, which adds to the letting value of the dwelling and includes any addition or alteration connected with the provision of any services to the dwelling, but does not include work of repairing (except where such work was the responsibility of the landlord and he failed to carry out the work), painting and decorating or any of them;

“tenant” means the person for the time being entitled to the possession of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates and includes a person—

(a) who would, at the commencement of this Act, be the tenant of the dwelling if the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960, and the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967, had full force and effect at all times from their passing until such commencement, and

(b) who is in possession of the dwelling at such commencement, and

(c) whose tenancy is not a tenancy in respect of which an order for possession has been made under section 5 of the Rent Restrictions (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1981.

(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person shall be deemed to be a member of the family of a tenant if—

(a) such person is the tenant's father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, step-father, step-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, nephew, niece, grandson, granddaughter, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle or aunt;

or

(b) such person is adopted by the tenant under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, or is the illegitimate offspring of the tenant (being the mother or the reputed father of such offspring) or is a person who was in bona fide residence with the tenant for not less than six years before the tenant's death where the tenant was in loco parentis to that person.

8 Application of this Part.

8.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Part applies to every dwelling which would, at the commencement of this Act, be a controlled dwelling within the meaning of the Rent Restrictions Acts, 1960 to 1981, if those Acts had full force and effect at such commencement, other than such a dwelling held at such commencement under a contract of tenancy for greater than from year to year during such period as it is so held.

(2) Sections 9 and 16 do not apply to—

(a) a dwelling let to a person in connection with his continuance in any office, appointment or employment,

or

(b) a dwelling let bona fide for the temporary convenience or to meet a temporary necessity of the landlord or the tenant.

(3) Where—

(a) the entitlement of a tenant to retain possession of a dwelling to which subsection (1) relates ceases to subsist, or

(b) the tenant of the dwelling assigns or sublets his tenancy, or

(c) the landlord of the dwelling recovers possession of the dwelling,

this Part shall cease to apply to the dwelling.

(4) Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (3) shall not affect the entitlement of a tenant to compensation under section 15.

9 Entitlement of tenants to retain possession.

9.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person (in this section referred to as the original tenant) who, immediately before the commencement of this Act, was a tenant of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates (not being a dwelling referred to in section 8 (2)) shall be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the lifetime of that person.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person being the spouse of the original tenant shall, upon the death of that tenant, if bona fide residing in the dwelling at the time of his death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the lifetime of the spouse.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person being a member of the family of the original tenant shall—

(a) if that tenant dies within the relevant period, upon the death of that tenant, or

(b) where the spouse of that tenant has become the tenant by virtue of subsection (2) and dies within the relevant period, upon the death of the spouse,

if bona fide residing in the dwelling at such death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the period beginning on the date of such death and ending on the expiration of the relevant period.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Part, where a member of the family of the original tenant becomes, by virtue of subsection (3) or this subsection, the tenant of the dwelling concerned and dies within the relevant period, a person being another member of that family shall, upon such death, if bona fide residing in the dwelling at such death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the period beginning on the date of such death and ending on the expiration of the relevant period.

(5) Where, in the circumstances described in subsection (3) or (4), more than one member of the original tenant's family was at the time of the relevant death bona fide residing in the dwelling, such one member of the family as may be agreed upon between them or, in default of agreement, as may be selected by the Court shall, subject to the provisions of this Part, be the person entitled to retain possession of the dwelling under this section.

(6) Notwithstanding subsections (3) and (4), where less than five years of the relevant period remain unexpired on the date that a member of the family of the original tenant becomes the tenant of a dwelling under this section, the entitlement of that member to retain possession of the dwelling shall subsist during the period beginning on that date and ending on the expiration of five years.

(7) In this section “relevant period” means the period of twenty years beginning on the commencement of this Act.

(8) Entitlement under this section to retain possession of a dwelling shall cease to subsist where possession of the dwelling is recovered by the landlord.

10 Surrender of dwelling.

10.—(1) The tenant of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates may surrender the dwelling to the landlord on giving to the landlord not less than one month's notice in writing of his intention to surrender the dwelling.

(2) For the removal of any doubt, it is hereby declared that the surrender of a dwelling under subsection (1) shall, for the purposes of the Family Home Protection Act, 1976, be taken to be a conveyance of an interest in the dwelling.

11 Terms of tenancies.

11.—(1) The terms of every tenancy of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates shall be such terms as are agreed between the landlord and the tenant or, in default of agreement, as shall be fixed by the Court.

(2) Whenever, after the commencement of this Act, the rent of a dwelling is increased by agreement between the landlord and the tenant or by the Court, the amount of the increase shall not be payable until—

(a) the terms of the tenancy have been set out in written form and signed by the landlord or his agent and a copy thereof has been furnished by the landlord to the tenant, and

(b) if regulations under section 24 are in force, the landlord has complied with the requirements of such regulations.

12 Terms of tenancy where fixed by the Court.

12.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the landlord or the tenant of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates may at any time apply to the Court for an order fixing the terms of the tenancy and the Court may make such order as justice may require and such order shall be binding on the landlord and the tenant unless varied by a subsequent order of the Court.

(2) Where the Court has fixed the terms of a tenancy under subsection (1), the landlord or the tenant may not apply to the Court to fix new terms of the tenancy until the expiration of five years from the date of the last order of the Court fixing the terms of the tenancy.

(3) An application under this section may be made notwithstanding any agreement between the landlord and tenant fixing the terms of the tenancy, whether such agreement was entered into before or after the commencement of this Act.

(4) If any dispute, failure or question arises or occurs in the carrying out of an order under this section the Court may, on the application of the landlord or the tenant, make such order as justice may require.

(5) The landlord or tenant making an application under subsection (1) shall give one month's notice in writing to the other party of his intention to make the application.

(6) The landlord shall be liable for the tenant's costs and expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred arising out of an application by the landlord to the Court under this section unless the Court, on consideration of all the circumstances, including the means of the landlord and the tenant, otherwise orders.

13 Fixing of rent by the Court.

13.—(1) Where the terms of a tenancy are fixed by the Court under section 12, the rent of the dwelling shall be the gross rent reduced by an allowance for any improvements, and any such allowance shall be such proportion of the gross rent as is, in the opinion of the Court, attributable to the improvements.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the gross rent shall be the rent which, in the opinion of the Court, would be a just and proper rent having regard to the nature, character and location of the dwelling, the other terms of the tenancy, the means of the landlord and the tenant, the date of purchase of the dwelling by the landlord and the amount paid by him therefor, the length of the tenant's occupancy of the dwelling and the number and ages of the tenant's family residing in the dwelling.

14 Compensation for loss.

14.—(1) Where the terms of a tenancy are fixed by the Court under section 12, the Court may, in respect of the period from the date of the service of notice of intention under subsection (5) of that section and the date of the order of the Court, order the landlord or the tenant, as the case may require, to pay to the other party an amount not exceeding the difference between the new rent fixed by the Court and the existing rent.

(2) The amount ordered by the Court to be paid under subsection (1) shall be paid in such manner and over such period as the Court may direct having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

15 Compensation for improvements.

15.—(1) The tenant of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates shall, upon quitting the dwelling, be entitled to be paid by the landlord compensation for improvements and the amount of the compensation shall be such sum as may be agreed between the landlord and the tenant or, in default of agreement, as shall be determined by the Court.

(2) Where compensation is determined by the Court the amount shall be the capitalised value of such addition to the letting value of the dwelling at the time of quitting which is attributable to the improvements, having regard to the probable life of the improvements and all other relevant circumstances.

(3) Where compensation for improvements is payable the Court may deduct from the compensation as ascertained under subsection (2) such sum as it considers reasonable—

(a) if the Court is satisfied that the tenant or his predecessors in title has received from the landlord benefits by way of reduction of rent or otherwise in consideration, expressly or impliedly, of the improvements having been made, or

(b) if an order for possession has been granted for a reason specified in section 16 (1) (a), (b) or (c), to compensate the landlord for any rent due or any loss incurred arising from the reasons for which the order for possession was granted.

(4) A tenant seeking compensation under this section shall serve a claim in writing on the landlord either before or after he has quit the dwelling concerned and shall give all particulars relevant to the claim, but a claim may not be served later than three months after such quitting.

(5) Compensation for improvements payable by a landlord under this section shall be payable in such manner and over such period as may be agreed between the landlord and the tenant or as the Court may direct.

(6) A tenant shall not be entitled to compensation under this section—

(a) in respect of improvements made in contravention of any obligation of the tenancy agreement under which the dwelling concerned was let unless the Court considers that, in the circumstances, the carrying out of the improvements was reasonable, or

(b) where compensation has been paid in respect of the dwelling under Part IV of the Act of 1980.

(7) Where compensation is paid under this section in respect of a dwelling, no right to compensation for improvements to that dwelling shall lie under Part IV of the Act of 1980.

16 Recovery of possession.

16.—(1) Notwithstanding the right to retain possession under section 9, the Court may, on the application of the landlord of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates (not being a dwelling referred to in section 8 (2)), grant an order for the recovery of possession of the dwelling if the Court considers it reasonable to make the order and—

(a) any rent lawfully due by the tenant has not been paid or any other obligation of the tenant under the tenancy has not been fulfilled by him, or

(b) any person (being the tenant or any person residing in the dwelling) has been guilty of conduct which the Court is satisfied is a nuisance or annoyance to the landlord or his agent or to adjoining occupiers or has used the dwelling or allowed it to be used for any immoral or illegal purpose (whether or not the person has been convicted of so using it or allowing it to be so used), or

(c) the condition of the dwelling has, in the opinion of the Court, deteriorated owing to acts of waste by, or the neglect or default of the tenant or any person residing in the dwelling, or

(d) the dwelling is bona fide required by the landlord—

(i) for occupation as a residence for himself or any person bona fide residing or to reside with him, or

(ii) for occupation as a residence for a person in the wholetime employment of the landlord, or

(iii) in the interests of good estate management, or