New legislation is in place.

All landlords must now register each tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board every year, filing the documentation within one month of the anniversary of when the tenancy began.

While landlords of private rented accommodation, social housing provided by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and landlords of Student Specific Accommodation (SSA) have always been required to register their tenancies with the RTB within one month of a tenancy starting, previously, tenancies were only required to be re-registered if a tenancy continued into a ‘Further Part 4’ tenancy.

A sample check by residents living near University College Cork recently showed that the majority of landlords renting properties in the area appear to have not registered their privately rented properties with the Residental Tenancies Board at all.

With the introduction of annual registration, the RTB’s online registration system will notify landlords in advance of the yearly anniversary of when the tenancy started, to ensure they register on time and avoid late fees and fines of up to €4,000 and/or civil sanctions of up to €15,000.

The cost to register tenancies will be €40 per year for private rentals, cost rentals and Student Specific Accommodation (SSA) rentals. The yearly fee for tenancies managed by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) will be €20 per year. There will be a fee waiver for those landlords who currently have a ‘Further Part 4’ tenancy in place.

“This is an important and necessary change to the law which enables the RTB to collect more timely and accurate data on the residential rental sector.” said Niall Byrne, Director of the RTB.

“This data will strengthen the ability of the RTB to fulfill its statutory and regulatory functions in a more responsive and effective manner. The data insights and information will also help inform the development of rental sector policy.”