From 4 April 2022, new legislation was introduced requiring landlords to register each of their tenancies with the RTB ever year. This must be completed within one month of the anniversary when the tenancy began.
Notice to customers - Late fees
Given the genuine difficulties among its user community, in due course, the RTB will be refunding all late fees paid to the RTB for new tenancy registrations with a tenancy commencement date on or after the 4 April 2022, and annual registrations of existing tenancies which became due on or after 4 April 2022. The RTB is hard at work to operationalise this new process over the coming weeks and will provide our customers with an update once the detail is finalised via our regular website customer service announcements.
Please note that this will not apply to any late fees which have accumulated prior to the introduction of annual registration on 4 April 2022. This also does not apply to providers of Student Specific Accommodation (SSA).
Registration Fees
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. Further detail on fees can be found below.
Transition Period
To further assist landlords in this changeover to annual registration, there will be a four-month transition period for tenancies which have renewal anniversaries between 4 April and 3 July 2022. This transition period ends on 3 August 2022.
Temporary Registration Fee Waiver
There is a temporary registration fee waiver to those landlords who will have to register a ‘Further Part Four’ tenancy. Tenancies that have a duration longer than six months are called ‘Part Four’ tenancies. Up to now in Ireland, tenancies either had a duration of four or six years, depending on when the tenancy started (tenancies which started after 24 December 2016 have a duration of six years).
Once the six years is due to expire, landlords can renew their tenancy registration and this renewed tenancy is known as a ‘Further Part Four’ tenancy. Landlords in these scenarios will be exempt from having to pay an annual registration fee for the portion of the tenancy remaining in their ‘Part Four’ tenancy, i.e. if there are three years left on the ‘Further Part Four’ tenancy, then the landlord would be exempt from paying an annual registration fee for those three years. However, please note that even though these landlords will be exempt from paying yearly registration fees, they will still be required to register their tenancy annually once they applied to register the ‘Further Part Four’ tenancy on or before 3 April 2022 and paid the required fee by midnight 3 May 2022.
For more information, please read the Government Guidance Document on Annual Registration here.
A Guide for Completing Your Annual Registration
Annual Registration Scenarios
Example 1: New Tenancy
A tenancy commenced on 4 July 2022. The landlord must register the tenancy by 3 August 2022 (i.e. within one month of the beginning of the tenancy) to avoid paying late fees. If the tenancy continues for the next 12 months, the landlord will be obliged to register the tenancy again as of 4 July 2023. The landlord must do so by 3 August 2023 (i.e. within one month of the anniversary of the tenancy beginning) to avoid paying late fees. The landlord must continue to register the tenancy by no later than 3 August every year for so long as the tenancy continues.
Late fees are applied each month the application to register is deemed to be late (i.e. more than one month after the tenancy began/ after the anniversary of the tenancy beginning) until the tenancy is registered.
Example 2: Existing Tenancies
A tenancy commenced on 9 September 2018. The landlord must register the tenancy as of 9 September 2022 and by 8 October 2022 (i.e. within one month of the anniversary of the tenancy beginning) to avoid paying late fees. If the tenancy continues for the next 12 months, the landlord will be obliged to register the tenancy again as of 9 September 2023. The landlord must do so by 8 October 2023 (i.e. within one month of the anniversary of the tenancy beginning) to avoid paying late fees.
The landlord must continue to register the tenancy by no later than 8 October every year for so long as the tenancy continues.
Late fees are applied each month the application to register is deemed to be late (i.e. more than one month after the anniversary of the tenancy beginning) until the tenancy is registered.
Example 3: Temporary Fee Waiver
A tenancy commenced on 1 January 2016. On 1 January 2020 it became a ‘further Part 4’ tenancy with a potential duration of six years. The landlord applied to register the ‘further Part 4’ tenancy on 15 January 2020 and paid the required fee before midnight on 3 May 2022.
Annual registration came into force on 4 April 2022. The landlord must register the tenancy again within a month of 1 January 2023 (i.e. within one month of the anniversary of the tenancy beginning). No fee is payable for this registration as long as the annual registration is completed on time.
If this tenancy continues, no registration fee will be charged until 1 January 2026, as long as each annual registration is completed on time (i.e. within one month of the anniversary of the tenancy beginning). If the tenancy is terminated by either party before the end of its term, a registration fee will be payable in respect of any replacement tenancy.