1st time renter - need advice.

Pyrrhic

Hi.

I am currently renting my first room in a house share, I'm here about 3 months now and everything is perfect so far.

Now last night the landlord told me that he will be moving out and his ex gf will be taking over as landlady but she will not be living here. It will be a 4 bedroom house that was owner occupied but not anymore once he leaves.

Now we all pay the landlord rent inclusive of bills. The landlady has told us she will drop the total cost of rent down by €25 but one of us in the house have to open up an account for the gas, electricity, bins etc. (still means that I will be paying an extra €25 without bills)

This is my first rental and I'm quite ignorant about this stuff but alarm bells are ringing already. If I pay €25 less rent there is no way that is going to cover the bills of a 4 bedroom house.

Her argument is that because she won't be living here she can't be expected to pay the bills.

Am I right here?

- she is changing the rent within a lease?

- the lease that she presented states that tenants are responsible for covering the cost of repairs. Surely the landlord has to cover that if we don't actually damage anything ourselves?

- the lease she has gave is for 6 months, I am unsure how long I signed with the original landlord.

I am bringing my lease into work tomorrow to get help from colleagues and I will need to make a few phone calls if anybody can point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

athtrasna

You rented from an owner occupier, that makes you a licensee not a tenant. The "lease" you have has no legal standing.

Pyrrhic

athtrasna wrote: »

You rented from an owner occupier, that makes you a licensee not a tenant. The "lease" you have has no legal standing.

So because the landlord lived with me, that means a new landlord can now come in and increase my rent and alter agreements that were made?

athtrasna

Pyrrhic wrote: »

So because the landlord lived with me, that means a new landlord can now come in and increase my rent and alter agreements that were made?

You have no security of tenure as a licensee. It is now up to you to sign a lease from the landlady and accept the terms or move somewhere else.

gizmo81

Have a look at the link below, firstly what were the details of the agreement with the owner/occupier?

You are entitled to reasonable notice of termination which you could argue this is as it is the end of your original agreement and you are being asked (forced?) to enter into a lease.

You will have more legal standing with a lease as you can ensure your tenancy is registered with the RTB.

If you are unhappy with the original agreement you can take a case to the small claims court, that is your only avenue for legal recourse.

You'll have to do the maths and figure out if the lease you are being asked to enter into is more beneficial, my opinion is it would be as you have more legal protections as a tenant rather than a licensee.

A rental property must meet minimum standards and repairs must be carried out by the landlord within certain reasonable timeframes depending on the repair. You are not responsible for a repair of a fridge that breaks down but would be for a coffee table that you break.

I hope that's helped. Contact Threshold if you have any concerns about the lease.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/sharing_accommodation_with_your_landlord.html

Pyrrhic wrote: »

Hi.

I am currently renting my first room in a house share, I'm here about 3 months now and everything is perfect so far.

Now last night the landlord told me that he will be moving out and his ex gf will be taking over as landlady but she will not be living here. It will be a 4 bedroom house that was owner occupied but not anymore once he leaves.

Now we all pay the landlord rent inclusive of bills. The landlady has told us she will drop the total cost of rent down by €25 but one of us in the house have to open up an account for the gas, electricity, bins etc. (still means that I will be paying an extra €25 without bills)

This is my first rental and I'm quite ignorant about this stuff but alarm bells are ringing already. If I pay €25 less rent there is no way that is going to cover the bills of a 4 bedroom house.

Her argument is that because she won't be living here she can't be expected to pay the bills.

Am I right here?

- she is changing the rent within a lease?

- the lease that she presented states that tenants are responsible for covering the cost of repairs. Surely the landlord has to cover that if we don't actually damage anything ourselves?

- the lease she has gave is for 6 months, I am unsure how long I signed with the original landlord.

I am bringing my lease into work tomorrow to get help from colleagues and I will need to make a few phone calls if anybody can point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

irishgirl19

If your landlady agreed to install prepay gas/electricity meters in her name you can the other occupiers could top then up each week. At least nothing would be in your name and no big bills can go unpaid

benjamin d

Is another tenant moving in to the landlord's room or is he keeping the room for his/the girlfriend's use?
If someone else is moving in you will become a tenant and will have more rights in terms of leases and security. If they are retaining use of the room you're probably still a licensee with basically no rights. Depending on how much they use the room it may be a legal grey area though.
I think it's fair enough that you will take over the bills yourself, and the difference between your €25 discount and the increased cost of bills is probably not a bad trade off for the increased security of a lease, if that's the situation.

Pyrrhic

Thanks for the replies.

Please do excuse my ignorance on this whole subject.
Moving out and renting a room was not a plan, but a decision I had to make due to circumstances at the family home.

I do indeed appear to be a lisencee and not a tenant, even though I signed a tenant's agreement. Quite backwards IMO but regardless it is where I am now. To move in only 3 months ago with an agreement already made it's quite hard to accept but a lesson I need to learn.

benjamin d wrote: »

Is another tenant moving in to the landlord's room or is he keeping the room for his/the girlfriend's use?
If someone else is moving in you will become a tenant and will have more rights in terms of leases and security. If they are retaining use of the room you're probably still a licensee with basically no rights. Depending on how much they use the room it may be a legal grey area though.
I think it's fair enough that you will take over the bills yourself, and the difference between your €25 discount and the increased cost of bills is probably not a bad trade off for the increased security of a lease, if that's the situation.

The landlord will not be residing at the property so surely that means that both me and new lad that moves in will both be 'tenants' and have the same rights and rules etc. ?
It's not really down to the costs to be honest. It's been expected to take an account in my own name and then be knocking on roommates doors looking for bill money if it flucuates in winter/summer etc.
Can she tell us to leave if we the current tenants don't open up bills under ourown information?
Maybe we will propose a prepay system, I don't see any other way.
Can she increase the rent as she pleases seeing as the current tenants are indeed a ''lisencee'?

Thank you.

Pyrrhic

Pyrrhic wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Please do excuse my ignorance on this whole subject.
Moving out and renting a room was not a plan, but a decision I had to make due to circumstances at the family home.

I do indeed appear to be a lisencee and not a tenant, even though I signed a tenant's agreement. Quite backwards IMO but regardless it is where I am now. To move in only 3 months ago with an agreement already made it's quite hard to accept but a lesson I need to learn.


The landlord will not be residing at the property so surely that means that both me and new lad that moves in will both be 'tenants' and have the same rights and rules etc. ?
It's not really down to the costs to be honest. It's been expected to take an account in my own name and then be knocking on roommates doors looking for bill money if it flucuates in winter/summer etc.
Can she tell us to leave if we the current tenants don't open up bills under ourown information?
Maybe we will propose a prepay system, I don't see any other way.
Can she increase the rent as she pleases seeing as the current tenants are indeed a ''lisencee'?

Thank you.

To be fair this is how the majority of houseshares operate, bills are in one tenant's name and split between all tenants as agreed. Doesn't seem particularly unreasonable to me. Getting a prepay system will still result in having to tell other tenants it's their turn to top it up etc so it's not that much different.

gizmo81

I'm sorry you find yourself in this position.

I think it's quite unreasonable to change the terms of the agreement you had and force you into a tenancy with all that entails with little notice.

However, a tenancy is the only way forward, and given the behaviour of the landlord thus far, it looks like you will need all the protections of a tenancy agreement.

Firstly, ask your new landlady will/is the property registered on the RTB?
Secondly, what bills are in the house? If you take the gas bill, always make sure to see the other bills before parting with money.

Out of curiosity are you sure the landlord is the owner of the house?

Pyrrhic wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Please do excuse my ignorance on this whole subject.
Moving out and renting a room was not a plan, but a decision I had to make due to circumstances at the family home.

I do indeed appear to be a lisencee and not a tenant, even though I signed a tenant's agreement. Quite backwards IMO but regardless it is where I am now. To move in only 3 months ago with an agreement already made it's quite hard to accept but a lesson I need to learn.


The landlord will not be residing at the property so surely that means that both me and new lad that moves in will both be 'tenants' and have the same rights and rules etc. ?
It's not really down to the costs to be honest. It's been expected to take an account in my own name and then be knocking on roommates doors looking for bill money if it flucuates in winter/summer etc.
Can she tell us to leave if we the current tenants don't open up bills under ourown information?
Maybe we will propose a prepay system, I don't see any other way.
Can she increase the rent as she pleases seeing as the current tenants are indeed a ''lisencee'?

Thank you.

jcd5971

Others will give you better advice on right etc.

My only tip to you is this, if you have to get utilities in your name i.e electric Ireland esb etc. Don't access the last bill estimate as the inital reading when you take it on in your name, make sure it's accurate.

Happened to myself and 3 housemates last place we lived and ended up that they had underistmated the readings, and as it was in my mates name his final bill was over 600 euro so watch that.