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27 2004

Residential Tenancies Act 2004

Chapter 2

Procedure for registration

Obligation to apply to register tenancy.

134. —(1) The landlord of a dwelling shall apply to the Board to register the tenancy of the dwelling under this Part.

(2) An application under this section shall be made—

(a) in the case of a tenancy that commences on a date that falls 3 or more months from the commencement of this Part — within 1 month from the commencement of the tenancy,

(b) in the case of a tenancy that has commenced on a date falling before or after the commencement of this Part (other than one to which paragraph (a) applies but including one that commenced before the passing of this Act)—

(i) in case it commenced before the passing of this Act — within 3 months from the commencement of this Part,

(ii) in any other case — within whichever of the following periods expires the later—

(I) the period of 3 months from the commencement of this Part, or

(II) the period of 1 month from the commencement of the tenancy.

(3) An application under this section shall be in the prescribed form and, subject to subsection (4), be accompanied by the fee specified in section 137 .

(4) The foregoing requirement with respect to the application being accompanied by a fee does not apply in relation to an application (the “relevant application”) by a person (the “applicant”) in respect of a particular dwelling (the “relevant dwelling”) if the application is made within the period specified in subsection (2)(a) or (b) and one of the following conditions is satisfied.

(5) Those conditions are that, in the 12 months preceding the relevant application—

(a) 2 applications, each accompanied by the fee specified in section 137 , have been made under this section by the applicant in respect of the relevant dwelling (and each within the period specified in subsection (2)(a) or (b)),

(b) the applicant has paid, in respect of several applications falling within subsection (3) of section 137 , the single fee referred to in subsection (2) of that section and the dwellings to which those several applications related included the relevant dwelling,

(c) an application, under the Housing (Registration of Rented Houses) Regulations 1996 and accompanied by the fee specified in those Regulations, to register a tenancy in respect of the relevant dwelling has been made by the applicant.

(6) An application under this section may not relate to more than one tenancy of a dwelling; accordingly separate applications under this section are required for separate tenancies.

Section 134 : supplemental provisions.

135. —(1) For the avoidance of doubt—

(a) a fresh application must be made under section 134 in respect of each new tenancy that is created in respect of a dwelling,

(b) the fact that a tenancy is continued in being as a Part 4 tenancy does not give rise to any requirement under section 134 to apply to register the Part 4 tenancy, and

(c) the coming into being of a further Part 4 tenancy in respect of a dwelling does, however, give rise to a requirement under section 134 to apply to register that further Part 4 tenancy.

(2) The form used for making an application under section 134 shall—

(a) be signed by the landlord of the dwelling concerned or his or her authorised agent and bear the date on which it is so signed, and

(b) be signed by the tenant or each of the tenants, as the case may be, of the dwelling concerned and bear the date or dates on which it is signed by the tenant or tenants.

(3) The Board shall assign a unique number to each application made under section 134 to register a tenancy and that number shall be used by the Board as the reference number for the tenancy when it is registered.

(4) An acknowledgement, in such form as the Board considers appropriate, shall be given to an applicant under section 134 of the receipt by the Board of his or her application and the fee mentioned in subsection (3) of that section.

(5) When an application under section 134 is received by the Board that is incomplete or is not accompanied by the fee mentioned in subsection (3) of that section, the Board shall notify the applicant of the omission concerned and afford him or her a reasonable opportunity to rectify the matter.

Particulars to be specified in application under section 134 .

136. —An application under section 134 shall contain the following particulars—

(a) the address of the dwelling,

(b) the name, address for correspondence and personal public service number (if any) of the landlord and, where the application is made by his or her authorised agent, the name, address for correspondence and personal public service number (if any) of the agent,

(c) if the landlord is a company, the registered number and registered office of that company,

(d) if (where the application is made by the landlord's authorised agent) the authorised agent is a company, the registered number and registered office of that company,

(e) the number of occupants of the dwelling,

(f) the name and, unless it cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry, personal public service number of the tenant, or (as the case may be) of each of the tenants, of the dwelling,

(g) the name of the housing authority in whose functional area the dwelling is situated,

(h) if the dwelling is one of a number of dwellings comprising an apartment complex, the name of the management company (if any) of the complex and the registered number and registered office of that company,

(i) a description of the dwelling, indicating—

(i) the estimated floor area,

(ii) the number of bed spaces,

(iii) a statement as to which of the following categories it belongs namely, a whole or part of a house, a maisonette, an apartment, a flat or a bedsitter and, in case it falls within the category of a house or maisonette, an indication as to whether the house or maisonette is detached, semi-detached or terraced, and

(iv) the number of bedrooms,

(j) the date the tenancy of the dwelling commenced,

(k) the amount of the rent payable under that tenancy, the frequency with which it is required to be paid and any taxes or other charges required to be paid by the tenant,

(l) if the tenancy is for a fixed term, the period of that term,

(m) if the tenancy consists of a sub-letting, an indication to that effect,

(n) the number assigned under section 135 (3) in respect of a previous tenancy that was registered under this Part in respect of the dwelling (but only if the particulars provided under paragraph (f) in respect of that tenancy were the same as those that are being provided, under that paragraph, in respect of the immediate tenancy), and

(o) such other matters as may be prescribed.

Fee to accompany application under section 134 .

137. —(1) The fee to accompany an application under section 134 shall, subject to subsections (2) and (6), be—

(a) if the application is made in the period of 12 months beginning on the commencement of section 134 , a fee of the amount of €70, or

(b) if the application is made in any subsequent period of 12 months—

(i) unless subparagraph (ii) applies, a fee of that amount, or

(ii) such fee of a greater or lesser amount as may stand declared for the time being under section 138 (1) for the purposes of this paragraph.

(2) The requirement under section 134 (3) for a fee specified in this section to accompany an application under section 134 shall be regarded as satisfied, as respects the applications mentioned in subsection (3), if the applicant mentioned in that subsection opts to pay to the Board a single fee of the amount specified in subsection (4) in respect of those applications.

(3) The applications referred to in subsection (2) are applications made by the same person at the same time in respect of tenancies of dwellings comprised in the same property.

(4) The amount of the single fee referred to in subsection (2) is—

(a) if the applications concerned are made in the period of 12 months beginning on the commencement of section 134 , €300, or

(b) if the applications concerned are made in any subsequent period of 12 months—

(i) unless subparagraph (ii) applies, €300, or

(ii) such greater or lesser amount as may stand declared for the time being under section 138 (1) for the purposes of this paragraph.

(5) The option of paying the single fee referred to in subsection (2) is not available to the person mentioned in subsection (3) if the applications concerned are not made within the period specified in section 134 (2)(a) or (b).

(6) If an application under section 134 is not made within the period specified in subsection (2)(a) or (b) of that section then the fee to accompany that application shall be a fee of an amount that is double the amount referred to in paragraph (a) or (b)(i) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b)(ii) of subsection (1).

Variation of fee in line with changes in value of money.

138. —(1) If the Board is satisfied that, having regard to changes in the value of money generally in the State that have occurred in—

(a) any period ending on or before the date that falls 12 months after the commencement of section 134 , or

(b) any period subsequent to that date,

it is appropriate for it to declare a fee of a greater or lesser amount than—

(i) in the case of section 137 (1)(b)

(I) €70, or

(II) the amount that was last previously declared (in exercise of the power under this section) for the purposes of that provision,

or

(ii) in the case of section 137 (4)(b)

(I) €300, or

(II) the amount that was last previously declared (in exercise of the power under this section) for the purposes of that provision,

it may, subject to subsection (2), declare in writing, for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) or (4)(b) of section 137 , a fee of such a greater or lesser amount.

(2) The amount (expressed as a percentage) by which the amount of a fee declared under this section is greater or lesser than the amount of the relevant fee mentioned in subsection (1) shall be such as, in the opinion of the Board, approximates to the percentage increase or decrease in the value of money generally in the State that has occurred in—

(a) unless paragraph (b) applies, the period beginning on the commencement of section 134 and ending on the making of the declaration, or

(b) if the power under this section has previously been exercised for the purpose of subsection (1)(b) or (4)(b) of section 137 , as the case may be, the period beginning on the date that that power was last exercised and ending on the making of the declaration.