After living in a tent for four years, a man who leased a flat in Dublin’s north rent pressure zone (RPZ) was granted an €11,654 refund by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) for an overcharged rent. His monthly rent of €1,400, which started in July 2020, was higher than the permissible €840 rent in Dublin’s 11th RPZ.
Prior to finding the flat on daft.ie, the man resided in a tent. He was initially offered the flat, but after he expressed interest in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), he was informed it was now geared towards the landlord’s relative. Upon asserting that he’d bring about a discrimination case, the property was subsequently offered to him once more, and he proceeded to move in in late July 2020 at a monthly rent of €1,400. However, the lease agreement didn’t specify the mandatory RPZ details, and the landlord’s representatives failed to provide these details despite repeated requests.
The man directly paid €410 of HAP to the landlord and made an additional contribution of €102.60, with €990 being handed to the landlord up until September 2021. Although he wasn’t arguing that the €1,400 rent exceeded the market rent, he implied it violated the RPZ.
The RTB settled that his rent ought to have complied with the last legally set rent of €700 in early July 2015. Taking into account the small percentage annual increase approved by the RPZ regulations, the correct monthly rent would have been €840. The RTB concluded that instead of the total amount of €33,119 from late July 2020 to November 2023, the man ended up paying €44,773, hence he overpaid by €11,654.
The sum of €11,654, as a portion of what Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) has paid, should be paid to the tenant who should then accordingly remit the relevant proportion to HAP. Additionally, the landlord is obligated to remit €250 as compensation for failing to meet the responsibilities set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.
In a corresponding ruling, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has upheld the validity of a lease termination notice served to a couple in late 2021. Occupying an apartment in Limerick for a monthly rent of €650 since 2015, the couple are required to leave within a 56-day timeline. The landlords are planning to sell the property. The couple had been unsuccessful in securing alternate accommodation and had noted in the hearing that the current premises were not suitable for a family with children.
In Dublin, a female tenant living with her son in a Rathmines bedsit since early 2020, received a lease termination notice in March 2023 that has been upheld by the RTB. The bedsit is situated in one of two adjacent properties purchased by the landlord in March 2022, where 17 out of a total of 19 residential units were occupied at the time. Only two units remain occupied now, including the bedsit, with the landlord’s intention being to sell both properties to Tusla for children and adolescents’ accommodation.
In a separate instance in Co Louth, the RTB found a tenant to be overstaying in a rented house that the corporate landlord intends to sell. The lease termination notice had been served and had expired in March 2022. The tenant, a self-employed consultant who has been living and working in the house since early 2020, conceded to the desperate housing situation in Ireland. Despite good references and numerous attempts in response to letting adverts, he has received limited replies and stated his willingness to vacate as soon as possible given the housing crisis.