IPOA Withdraws Advice on Passing Household Charge on to Tenants
December 22, 2011
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Posted by Money Guide
Earlier this week – the Irish Property Owners Association – (IPOA) advised all landlords to levy the new Household Charge on their tenants.
After intervention by the Competition Authority, the IPOA have changed their stance – and now say it is up to each individual landlord to make their own decision on the new Household Charge . They say that “the relationship of landlord and tenant is a matter of contract between the parties and it is for the parties to any letting agreement to agree between themselves its terms, including the settlement of any charges levied to fund local services.”
Maybe they were a bit hasty with that original statement?
Categories: Household Charge, Household Tax
I there – I am sending this email on behalf of 4 lads in receipt of disability benefit who have a contract between themselves and the landlord directly. The landlord has now written to them saying that he will be increasing the rent from first week in January to cover the cost of the €100. This was not part of their letting agreement signed.
Can you advise – thanks
Mary – those tenants might want to get in touch with Threshold.ie – they might be able to advise them.
http://www.threshold.ie/
Landlords are allowed to set the rent, and are allowed to increase/decrease it. However they cannot change the rent willy nilly. It can only be every 12 months, and cannot be in the first 12 months of tenancy. It can also only be within “market rates”. Rent in Ireland has been going down, so it’s hard to see how the landlord can claim that the market rate has gone up by €100. cf. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/rent_increases.html
Remember, the landlord cannot evict you just because they want to charge more rent. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/if_your_landlord_wants_you_to_leave.html
Law (i.e. Acts) beat contracts. If the act says one thing, and the contract another, then the act wins and the contract is invalid.
If in doubt, they should contact Threshold.
Mary,you don’t say when the lease ends,if it ends in December then the Landlord can ask what ever rent he wants,if the 4 lads don’t want to pay it then they can walk away and rent somewhere else.
Not exactly true. In all cases, it’s best to contact Threshold or the PRTB. But my understanding is that just because a lease is up, doesn’t mean you have to leave. If tenants have been there for between 6 months and 3½ years then they can stay there unless there are some certain conditions are met: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/if_your_landlord_wants_you_to_leave.html
Also landlords cannot “ask for whatever rent they want” if there is someone there already, since that would count as a rent review. Rent reviews can only increase rent within market rates. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/rent_increases.html