Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The published Bill provides that sections 19 to 22 and section 139 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 will not be applied to approved housing body tenancies. Approved housing bodies generally use a differential rent scheme as applied by local authorities to determine the rents of 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, they are excluded from these sections. Approved housing body rents for their social housing tenants are set when the approved housing body signs an agreement with the housing authority to house those tenants. Those agreements are made under section 6 of the Housing Act of 1992.

Amendment No. 20 inserts a new section 19A into the principal Act to clarify that this is how approved housing body rents are to determined. Amendment No. 21 inserts a new section 20A into the principal Act which provides that any review of rent is determined under this agreement and that where no review of rent is provided for in the agreement, that either party may request a review.

Amendments Nos. 9, 10 and 12 are technical, drafting amendments while amendment No.11 is a consequential amendment to amendments Nos. 20 and 21. Amendment No. 22 provides for the notification of new rent to approved housing body tenants, while amendments Nos. 24 and 25 are consequential.

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