Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 9, line 4, to delete "and".

These amendments provide that sections 19 to 22, inclusive, and section 139 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 will not apply to approved housing body tenancies. Approved housing bodies use the differential rent scheme applied by local authorities to determine the rent charged for their dwellings. Under this system, the amount of rent to be paid by a tenant is based on the income of the household and the provisions in the 2004 Act, including section 19 which deals with market rent, conflict with the scheme. As the differential rent scheme is more advantageous to approved housing body tenants than the provisions relating to rent in the 2004 Act, approved housing body tenancies are excluded from these sections.

The amendments also provide for the exclusion of approved housing bodies from section 139 of the 2004 Act which provides that a landlord must update the details of his or her registration with the Private Residential Tenancies Board whenever the rent changes. As the rent might change a number of times in a given year under the differential rent scheme, approved housing bodies are also exempt from this section owing to the potentially significant administrative burden it would impose.