Lease renewal

troops

is it up to landlord/agent to contact tenant when lease is nearly up or vice-versa?
my year lease is up in one month...i would have thought he'd have been in contact by now to see if i wanted to renew for another year. :rolleyes:

thanx

sophia25

If you are in your tenancy more than 6 months you are now a Part 4 Tenant and can remain in the property for 4 years from the start of your tenancy and don't need to sign a new lease and would only have to give the statutory notice to leave. Under section 195 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 you should inform your landlord of your intention to remain between 3-1 month before end of lease to avoid any cost he may incur in re-advertising it. He may only issue notice to you under 6 very specific and conditional reasons outlined in section 34 of the act. He can not refuse to allow you to remain unless he can comply with the conditions of section 34. Just write your landlord a letter saying that under section 195 of RTA you are giving him notice of your intention to remain in the premises as a Part 4 Tenant. Best of luck.:)

the_syco

Don't forget to ask for a rent reduction...

troops

sophia25 wrote: »

If you are in your tenancy more than 6 months you are now a Part 4 Tenant and can remain in the property for 4 years from the start of your tenancy and don't need to sign a new lease and would only have to give the statutory notice to leave. Under section 195 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 you should inform your landlord of your intention to remain between 3-1 month before end of lease to avoid any cost he may incur in re-advertising it. He may only issue notice to you under 6 very specific and conditional reasons outlined in section 34 of the act. He can not refuse to allow you to remain unless he can comply with the conditions of section 34. Just write your landlord a letter saying that under section 195 of RTA you are giving him notice of your intention to remain in the premises as a Part 4 Tenant. Best of luck.:)

thanks..he came back looking for another year lease...is there any benefit to this for me?

mebird

troops wrote: »

thanks..he came back looking for another year lease...is there any benefit to this for me?

It is probably best NOT to agree to another fixed term and instead opt for a Part 4 tenancy ( as is your entitlement ). Under a fixed term you do not have the option of vacating prior to the end of the fixed term. If you do, you may forfeit your deposit.

Under a Part 4 you may vacate on giving the statutory notice.

The only benefit to you of having the fixed term is the landlord cannot terminate the tenancy if he wishes to sell the property or he requires the dwelling for own or family member occupation ( hardly worth mentioning the other four reasons).

If you think it unlikely that you need the protection of a fixed term for these instances, then go for the Part 4 as it gives you the option to vacate early.

If this sounds confusing, it is, but it all falls under a ridiculous piece of legislation called the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which is largely ignored by the market .... handy to know your rights nevertheless.

NIMAN

sophia25 wrote: »

If you are in your tenancy more than 6 months you are now a Part 4 Tenant and can remain in the property for 4 years from the start of your tenancy and don't need to sign a new lease and would only have to give the statutory notice to leave. Under section 195 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 you should inform your landlord of your intention to remain between 3-1 month before end of lease to avoid any cost he may incur in re-advertising it. He may only issue notice to you under 6 very specific and conditional reasons outlined in section 34 of the act. He can not refuse to allow you to remain unless he can comply with the conditions of section 34. Just write your landlord a letter saying that under section 195 of RTA you are giving him notice of your intention to remain in the premises as a Part 4 Tenant. Best of luck.:)

As a 1st time LL, this is interesting to know.
I have no issue with my tenant deciding to stay on if they want to, but if they do claim this criteria to stay, then they obviously must accept that the LL may not want to reduce the rent. Is that correct?

mebird

NIMAN wrote: »

As a 1st time LL, this is interesting to know.
I have no issue with my tenant deciding to stay on if they want to, but if they do claim this criteria to stay, then they obviously must accept that the LL may not want to reduce the rent. Is that correct?

A rent review is a completely separate issue to the renewal of a fixed term tenancy or conversion of a previous fixed term tenancy to a Part 4, but is also governed by the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

Either party is entitled to a rent review to the current market rent on or after every 12 months and no earlier ( they must give 28 days notice before the review can take effect ). This means that a tenant is not entitled to demand a rent reduction six months into a tenancy and the landlord is not entitled to fix it for 2 years either. You may both agree to a 6 month review or a 2 year review ... so in that sense it's no problem.... but it is not enforceable should someone change their mind.

You may ask yourself therefore what is the point to a lease ... there is probably none as the 'tenancy' and the law governing the tenancy supercede what is contained in a lease.

You could also ask yourself what is the point of knowing this... there is probably none as most of the market ignore all of these issues.. .tenants will look for rent reviews every time a Daft.ie report comes out, and get one or else leave.

If you want to research it further, don't rely on publications from the PRTB such as the patronisingly titled 'How to be a good landlord' and 'How to be a good tenant' as they do not adequately explain the difference between a fixed term and part 4 tenancy and will ultimately confuse the issues for you, such as when you are entitled to terminate the lease etc.

Best of luck, its a jungle out there.