Shared bedroom and minimum rental standards?

Yellow_Fern

Hi all,

In a tenancy rental, can a shared bedroom room meet minimum rental standards? I don't mean in an owner occupied house.

DubCount

AFAIK there are lots of requirements for rentals on standards of cooking and washing facilities etc., but I dont think there is anything specifically insisting on each resident having exclusive use of their own room. So rental rules do not prohibit sharing.

There may be an issue with overcrowding if occupancy is too high for the size of the property - there may be fire safety concerns etc. I don't think that's very well defined though. 20+ people in a 3 bed house is clearly overcrowding, 2 single beds in a large double room probably isn't. Where the line is though could/should be clearer.

Mrs OBumble

Of course. Otherwise a family with five kids would need a 5brm house!

Most people would not accept a house share which involved sharing with a stranger. But needs must.

Also, remember that the Irish overseas pretty much invented hot-boxing. Things could be worse.

jack842

I shared a room with a complete stranger back in college 20 years ago. It worked out fine. It's not a new concept.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443115#Comment_119443115

With strangers is a different matter. A family is not the same. To be fair, I know the scenario I mentioned does meet the Irish statutory definition overcrowding but I presume it is still legal. Anyway, over 12 aged I think social houses have limits to the amount of children per a room.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443164#Comment_119443164

I know, I am asking does it meet minimum rental standards though. Most Irish occupied houses dont meet minimum rental standards. Some new builds dont meet minimum rental standards.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443194#Comment_119443194

There are not separate rental standards for family vs non-family. (And if there they tried - how would that work for blended families, adult sibilings, cousins etc)

Over 10, social housing says children can only share a room with others of the same sex. I'm not aware of any limits on numbers, there certainly is not requirement for one room per child.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443327#Comment_119443327

OK good to know. The rules can be complex so I thought Id ask. For example there are no rules requiring sound proofing within a building, but if you have two different flats in one building, there are soundproofing required between them (in the building regs).

dennyk

There's nothing in the minimum standards which would preclude a bedroom having multiple occupants, per se. However, the Housing Act, 1966 prohibits overcrowding, which is defined as unmarried people of the opposite sex older than 10 being required to share a bedroom, or having less than 400 cubic feet of space per person in a bedroom (not taking into account any ceiling height above eight feet). By that definition, a 100 square foot room could legally have no more than two occupants, so those properties where some shady landlord has crammed bunk beds into every square centimeter of space are usually illegally overcrowded. Being required to share a bedroom in general, even with a stranger (of the same sex), doesn't violate the Act, however, so long as the room has about 50 square feet of floor space per person (assuming the ceiling is at least eight feet high). The local housing authorities have the power to enforce the Housing Act, so if you are aware of an overcrowded dwelling, you can report it to the local authority.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444823#Comment_119444823

Absolute golden response. Thanks.

Claw Hammer

It can be a grounds for a landlord to terminate a tenancy if an extra person appears in a family e.g by a child being born if if results in overcrowding.