Written answers

Thursday, 22 March 2018

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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296. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if it is ensured that all properties in respect of which housing assistance payment is being paid are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13486/18]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as anindependent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants.

The Act provides that landlords must apply to register the tenancy of a dwelling with the RTB within one month of the commencement of the tenancy. The RTB actively pursues landlords for non-registration. Failure to register tenancies can result in prosecution with fines of up to €4,000 and/or six months imprisonment.

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Shared Service Centre (SSC) provides a highly effective transactional service on behalf of Local Authorities, including data-sharing with the RTB in relation to active HAP tenancies. This enables the RTB to ensure compliance with the national tenancy registration system.

The 2004 Act applies to every dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy, subject to a limited number of exceptions. The dwellings to which the Act does not apply are set out in section 3(2) of the Act. Where the owner of a dwelling, residing in that dwelling, lets a room, that letting is not considered to be a tenancy within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act.

HAP support is available to tenants in rent a room scheme arrangements. In these cases, the RTB does not have any function and there is no registration requirement.

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