Update on Termination of Residential Tenancies Marissa O’Keeffe outlines recent developments in the area of Notice of Termination in Residential Tenancies and offers advice on how best to deal with a termination scenario
Key Legislation There has been a raft of legislation introduced in the past number of years, and in particular, in the recent months, affecting residential tenancies in Ireland. This article will focus on the provisions of that legislation insofar as they affect the termination of residential tenancies that are within the scope of the Residential Tenancies Board (“RTB”). This following legislation is now collectively known as the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2020 (“the Acts”): i. Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) ii. Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2009 iii. Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act, 2015 (“the 2015 Act”) iv. The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act, 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) v. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) vi. Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 (7/2020) (“RTVA 2020”) vii. Residential Tenancies Act 2020 (17/2020)(“RTA 2020”) 32 the Parchment
The Law Reform Commission have prepared an unofficial consolidated version of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 – 2020 incorporating all changes up to 29 September 2020. It does not, therefore, incorporate the changes introduced by the RTA 2020 which were commenced on 24 October 2020. The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020 (2/2020) also affected the termination of residential tenancies until 10 August 2020. In addition, there are a number of other enactments which affect residential tenancies generally but are not the focus of this update e.g. Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017 (SI 17/ 2017), Equal Status Acts 2000 – 2015 etc.
Termination Notice Periods When a tenancy lasts for more than six months, the tenant will acquire security of tenure under Part 4 of the Acts (“Part 4 tenancy”). The 2016 Act extended the cycles of such tenancies from four years to six years duration. S.66 of the Acts contains a table of notice periods that apply to both a landlord and tenant when terminating a Part 4 tenancy. These periods have been extended over the years, most recently in the 2019 Act.
