Rent Freeze To Be Extended Beyond 20 July

@Brendan Burgess

1) A landlord can give notice of a rent increase but that rent increase cannot take effect before 11 January 2021 if the tenant has made the necessary declaration to the RTB. How a landlord is to know that such a declaration has been made is unclear.

2) Yes, that's correct.

3) Yes, that's correct.
 
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I'm thoroughly confused now?

Can I do my annual rent review / increase now to take effect in October (which is when I normally do it).

No issue with tenant/work/rent being paid, thankfully.
 
That's the way I read it and in fact I had a conversation with a TD on Friday where he expressed that view. This appears to run contrary to opinion on another forum but I am going to 'test the water'
 
Thirsty said:
Can I do my annual rent review / increase now to take effect in October (which is when I normally do it).
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I don't see why not.

However, assuming the Bill becomes law, if your tenant subsequently makes a Covid-related declaration to the RTB, the increase won't take effect until 11 January 2021.
 
I should have added the caveat that the Bill may well be amended.

In my opinion, it's a very poorly constructed piece of legislation.
 
Just wondering, if my tenant has difficulty paying rent, but I need to sell the property either way, can I give notice on 1st August (I need to sell the house wether they are paying rent or not). Thanks
 
martha said:
Just wondering, if my tenant has difficulty paying rent, but I need to sell the property either way, can I give notice on 1st August (I need to sell the house wether they are paying rent or not). Thanks
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Yes, as things stand, you can issue a notice of termination on that basis any time after 1 August 2020.

Be careful to comply with all the necessary formalities.
 
Sarenco said:
I don't see why not.

However, assuming the Bill becomes law, if your tenant subsequently makes a Covid-related declaration to the RTB, the increase won't take effect until 11 January 2021.
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Looks like it will be safer to wait until next year; too much messing around otherwise I think.
 
Peanuts20 said:
Landlords costs have not gone up significantly in this period since there has been no change in mortgage rates, on that basis, what's the big deal around no increase in rent? When you look at some of the rents being charged for substandard properties in Dublin, it's hard to have any sympathy for landlords.
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There are other expenses besides mortage rates - cost of repairs and maintenance is going up all the time, management company costs are going up all the time for the same reason and because of rising insurance costs. Despite the popular opinion that all landlords are bad and greedy, some landlords have worked with good tenants by agreeing to keep rents below market rates and are now stuck with those low rents (despite rising costs) because of the way rent pressure zones were introduced.
 
It was unclear in the Bill, as initiated, how a landlord would be aware that his tenant had filed a Covid-related declaration with the RTB.

The Minister inserted a new section in the Bill (which has now been passed by the Dail) to the effect that the declaration "shall be addressed to the person on whom it is required to be served by name..."

The drafting is appalling but I think the intention is that relevant tenants should serve a copy of the declaration on their landlord (in addition to filing it with the RTB).

How a tenant with literacy challenges is supposed to navigate this process is beyond me.
 
Sarenco said:
The drafting is appalling but I think the intention is that relevant tenants should serve a copy of the declaration on their landlord (in addition to filing it with the RTB).
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Is there even a statutory obligation on a landlord to inform the tenant of his current address? Am not aware of one.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
Is there even a statutory obligation on a landlord to inform the tenant of his current address? Am not aware of one.
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There is a legal obligation on landlords to provide to the tenant particulars of the means by which the tenant may, at all reasonable times, contact him or her or his or her authorised agent,

But you're right - there is no legal obligation on a landlord to inform the tenant of an address for service of notice.
 
Could some one please advise me as I have been in and out of Hospital quite a bit over the last 5 months or so following a life changing event and find it difficult to follow the recent changes.
I have 4 properties are that due for a rent review and currently well below market rent. 3 of them are in RAS agreements. A rent review notice has been served over 90 days at the moment on the Co.Co.. Am I entitled to a rent increase at the moment for them. Neither of them are in a RPZ and the review time had expired at the time the notice was served.

In the other case the rent freeze had taken effect a few days before the rent increase was due to take effect. It is in a RPZ and currently rent is way under market rent as is the proposed new rent.
All the notices are done in the proper manner. Sorry to bother anyone.
 
Very sorry to hear you've not been well. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

From what I understand you can notify your tenant of the rent increase but it won't take effect until Jan 2021, and not even then if they have notified the RTB that they were impacted by Covid.

It's very messy in my view.

I made the decision not to do rent reviews until next spring, when things should hopefully be a bit clearer.
 
Dermot said:
In the other case the rent freeze had taken effect a few days before the rent increase was due to take effect
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In that case, the "paused" rent increase took effect from 1 August 2020.

The Residential Tenancies and Valuations Act 2020 provides that a rent increase cannot take effect before 11 January 2020 if the tenant has made the necessary COVID-related declaration to the RTB and has served a copy on you (which I assume is not the case here).

If I was you, I would write to the relevant tenant advising them that the previously notified rent increase that was "paused" by the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 is now effective.

I'm not familiar with RAS but the same principles should apply.
 
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