Two different prices for the same sized room.

professore

JonJoeDali wrote: »

The landlord will soon learn that lesson.

And besides, peoples homes aren't commodities. Landlords legally aren't allowed to charge more than the "market rate" for many good reasons.

Are you any relation to Salvador, JonJoe ? As you are clearly delusional. The market rate is whatever the landlord says it is. If the landlord decides to charge € 5 million a week for a one bed flat in Terenure and the tenant is willing to pay then that's the market rate.

convert

JonJoeDali wrote: »

The tenant is perfectly entitled to pay just the "market rent" and not a cent more. In this case, the "market rent" clearly is what his housemate is paying.

From the PRTB handbook

MARKET RENTS
The maximum rent payable by a tenant may not be greater
than the open market rent, which is defined as the rent that a
willing tenant would give and a willing landlord would take for
vacant possession having regard to the tenancy terms and the
letting values of dwellings of a similar size, type and character
and located in a similar area.

convert

JonJoeDali wrote: »

Where's that written into law? The tenant is perfectly entitled to pay just the "market rent" and not a cent more. In this case, the "market rent" clearly is what his housemate is paying.

Again, from the PRTB handbook

RENT REVIEWS
After each 12 months of a tenancy, tenants, as well as landlords,
can seek a rent review. Reviews can take place no more
frequently than once a year unless there has been a substantial
change in the nature of the accommodation in the interim.

3DataModem

So what about when privies were rising?

You move in for 200 per month.

Six month later a guy moves in at 225 per month.

Can the landlord raise your rent to match the market rate?

Meteoric

If you really feel the difference is not in line with current rents go look and find an alternative accommodation or have like 15 examples from Daft or similar websites showing you can move in the same area for less than you are paying.
But do not do this unless you are prepared to move if the landlord says no. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and if the landlord has any sense he/she will keep you but the threat to move out has to be a real one.
If your new house-mate just got a really good deal for your area you will just have to suck it up if you can move for less well then it is the landlords problem, they either have to reduce your rent or have an empty room but before you negotiate you need to know the current market rates.
It's not a situation where you can call their bluff, you have to be prepared to hand in notice and move if you want the reduction

00112984

Looking at it from a hypothetical angle as I'm not sure whether any of these conditions applied to the OP but...

If you were renting with one other person in the house and a vacancy was there for a third person, you were probably paying 50% of utility bills (ie splitting with the second person). Having a third person in would reduce your utilities to 33.3333...% so it was in your best interest for the landlady to fill the room, even at a lower rent.

djimi

JonJoeDali wrote: »

The landlord will soon learn that lesson.

And besides, peoples homes aren't commodities. Landlords legally aren't allowed to charge more than the "market rate" for many good reasons.

A landlord can charge whatever they desire for accomodation. As a tenant or potential tenant you are under no obligation to take up the accomodation if you feel the price is too high. But there is nothing to stop a landlord asking for €5000 a month for a 10x10 basement hovel if they so wish to do so. If the tenant agrees to pay it and signs a contract to that effect then it is the fault of the tenant, not the landlord.

Theres no such thing as market rate when it comes to renting. Im pretty sure Im probably paying €50-€100 less than some of my neighbours for my apartment, but that doesnt give them the right to go to the landlord and demand that their rent be reduced mid-lease.

djimi

Ann-Marie, you agreed to pay the price youre paying, and I assume signed a lease to that effect. Thus the landlord has no obligation to reduce your rent to meet the price of a similar of their accomodations. You can by all means ask, and you never know what their answer may be, but do not expect to get a reduction.

goat2

Ann-Marie wrote: »

I'm paying more rent than my housemate (only two of us) for a room that is exactly the same size as theirs. I don't think it's fair that the the landlady can do this. The guy moved in late, so she claims that she had to reduce the price in order to find someone at such a late stage. As far as I'm concerned it still doesn't excuse the fact that we're paying different rates for the same sized rooms.

Any advice/experience of the same situation.

hand in your notice, there are plenty beautiful apartments and houses going very reasonable, dont put up with this, and on giving notice, state this reason also, even though you are not obliged to give a reason

djimi

goat2 wrote: »

hand in your notice, there are plenty beautiful apartments and houses going very reasonable, dont put up with this, and on giving notice, state this reason also, even though you are not obliged to give a reason

And if the landlord decides to try withhold the deposit for breaking the lease early? Is it really worth the hassle, given that the difference between the rents over the year probably wouldnt come close to the price of the deposit lost?

goat2

djimi wrote: »

And if the landlord decides to try withhold the deposit for breaking the lease early? Is it really worth the hassle, given that the difference between the rents over the year probably wouldnt come close to the price of the deposit lost?

give one month notice in writing, keeping a copy and getting landlord to sign it, then the law is with you, you are entitled to that

djimi

Im not arguing with you (Im now curious) but what happens if the landlord refuses to accept the months notice, or starts to get sticky about it? Is it as easy as that to get out of a lease when renting or is there some other potential penalty involved for breaking a lease?

goat2

djimi wrote: »

Im not arguing with you (Im now curious) but what happens if the landlord refuses to accept the months notice, or starts to get sticky about it? Is it as easy as that to get out of a lease when renting or is there some other potential penalty involved for breaking a lease?

if they refuse the one months notice, they break the law, if they do not hand back deposit when the month is up, provided all is ok with their property they also break the law, you seem to be very afraid, is this your first time renting, i personally think so, and this landlord know that too, and is taking advantage of this fact, dont be walked on,

djimi

Im not the OP; Im just curious!

Im not that long renting tho, and its something Ive wondered about. So basically when they say "1 year minimum" on the lease it means very little then?

ztoical

goat2 wrote: »

if they refuse the one months notice, they break the law, if they do not hand back deposit when the month is up, provided all is ok with their property they also break the law, you seem to be very afraid, is this your first time renting, i personally think so, and this landlord know that too, and is taking advantage of this fact, dont be walked on,

How is the Landlord taking advantage? They advertised both room for the same price, I assume the OP viewed the room and was happy to pay the rent asked for it. No one offered to rent the second room, after a period the LL decided to lower the rent on it rather then have it sit empty. The OP has rented a room not the whole house/flat so they have no say in what contract the LL signs with other tenants. If people want to avoid something like this happening they should rent the whole property and find people to share rather then renting single rooms.

We also only know the rooms are the same size, there could be other differences between the two rooms that put people off renting the second one [I once rented a room in a house were the largest bedroom was painted a horrible pink colour and no one wanted it and the LL wouldn't paint it another colour even though the ended up finally having to rent it for less then the smaller rooms] Just because the two rooms are the same size does not mean they are equal.

astrofool

goat2 wrote: »

if they refuse the one months notice, they break the law, if they do not hand back deposit when the month is up, provided all is ok with their property they also break the law, you seem to be very afraid, is this your first time renting, i personally think so, and this landlord know that too, and is taking advantage of this fact, dont be walked on,

The notice periods for a part 4 tenancy are on www.threshold.ie, the notice periods for a fixed term lease, will be defined in the lease itself. If the lease does not give a 1 month notice, then they are stuck there until the end of the lease (or can be sued for the remainder of the lease if they leave early).

They can try and find someone else to take over the lease, at the price they are renting, and this person has to be acceptable to the landlord (has there been any PRTB cases where a landlord refused a replacement tenant and were then forced to take them?).

Anyway, you are wrong about your "one month notice is the law" claim.

goat2

djimi wrote: »

Im not the OP; Im just curious!

Im not that long renting tho, and its something Ive wondered about. So basically when they say "1 year minimum" on the lease it means very little then?

yes , as you can give one month notice to leave, you are not breaking any law there, and you are entitled to your full deposit back at the end of that month.

Cathmandooo

goat2 wrote: »

yes , as you can give one month notice to leave, you are not breaking any law there, and you are entitled to your full deposit back at the end of that month.

No you can't just give one months notice to get out of a fixed term lease. You would not be entitled to your deposit.

Can you please give us a source for your claims?

Cathmandooo

goat2 wrote: »

i have been renting out a small house with a long time now, never had problems so far, and there is no question but they would get their rent back on a notice to leave of one month, and that was always the case, when i did read up on this away back this was the requirement, when my children were renting while going to college, and one lady told one of them they could not walk out on a one yr lease, well she did 6 months later, and that was by giving one months notice in writing.

That's your personal experience on a handful of tenancies which we can't see and perhaps that particular tenancy had a break clause, but you were talking about the law. Can you give a source regarding the law to back up what you've said? Because it's misleading to be advising people that they can break a fixed term lease without penalty and that the law is behind them, when it's not.

goat2

Cathmandooo wrote: »

That's your personal experience on a handful of tenancies which we can't see and perhaps that particular tenancy had a break clause, but you were talking about the law. Can you give a source regarding the law to back up what you've said? Because it's misleading to be advising people that they can break a fixed term lease without penalty and that the law is behind them, when it's not.

i got it wrong, .[/QUOTE]</p>
but i always hand back deposit knowing they need it, and i guess i do have feelings for people in these bad times.Tenants can terminate a tenancy without giving a reason but must give notice.Length of tenancy Notice by tenant Less than 6 months 4 weeks (28 days) 6 months to 1 year 5 weeks (35 days) 1 – 2 years 6 weeks (42 days) 2 or more years 8 weeks (56 days) If tenants have a fixed-term agreement or a lease, they are also subject to the terms of this agreement. This means they may lose their deposit if they leave before the term stated in the lease, even if they give the correct amount of notice.

astrofool

goat2 wrote: »

i got it wrong, but i always hand back deposit knowing they need it, and i guess i do have feelings for people in these bad times.Tenants can terminate a tenancy without giving a reason but must give notice.Length of tenancy Notice by tenant Less than 6 months 4 weeks (28 days) 6 months to 1 year 5 weeks (35 days) 1 – 2 years 6 weeks (42 days) 2 or more years 8 weeks (56 days) If tenants have a fixed-term agreement or a lease, they are also subject to the terms of this agreement. This means they may lose their deposit if they leave before the term stated in the lease, even if they give the correct amount of notice.

Please read what the law is, before you give dangerous advice to people:

PRTB wrote:

Fixed Term Tenancies
A landlord can only terminate a fixed term tenancy where there the tenant has been in breach of his or
her obligations.5 Accordingly, a landlord cannot rely on the provisions of Section 34, to terminate a
fixed term tenancy during the fixed term. Following the expiration of the fixed term period however, if
the tenant has exercised his rights under Part 4, to extend his tenure for the remainder of the Part 4
tenancy of 4 years, the landlord can from then on, rely on the provisions of Section 34.
Similarly, a tenant can only terminate a fixed term tenancy where there the landlord has been in
breach of his or her obligations.6 In addition however, where the landlord has refused consent to an
assignment or sub-let, the tenant can also terminate the tenancy, in accordance with Section 186.

From:
http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Termination%20of%20FT.pdf

Which references the legislation:
http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/FullAct.pdf