Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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292. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has plans to amend Section 12 of Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to ensure that tenants are not prohibited from hanging clothes to dry in gardens, balconies or within view of windows. [57555/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants.

The Acts apply to every dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy, subject to a limited number of exceptions.

Generally, it is “house rules” agreed between a landlord and a tenant at the start of a tenancy that might deal with laundry, keeping pets, noise, satellite dishes, etc.

The Acts do not provide for such matters. However, section 18 of the Acts provides that no provision of any lease, tenancy agreement, contract or other agreement may operate to vary, modify or restrict in any way section 12 (obligations of landlords) or section 16 (obligations of tenants). Obligations additional to those specified in section 16 may be imposed on the tenant by the lease or tenancy agreement concerned but only if those obligations are consistent with the Acts.

Landlords should make sure that their tenants are familiar with the house rules by including them in the tenancy agreement. House rules must not be in contravention of rights and protections afforded to owners/tenants in law, including privacy, data protection or equality legislation, etc.

It would be inappropriate for the Acts to prescribe such particulars.