Virgin Landlord

BattlingCheese

Hi folks,

In a month or so I will be letting out a room in my apartment and need some info.

I don't know the first thing about letting. I don't know any landlords and I've never rented anywhere myself.

I've briefly looked at threshold.ie but couldn't find any info for landlords.

So what I need to know is,
a) the things I need to do to make this legal
b) what responsibilities do I have to undertake, besides letting him/her have their own shelve in the fridge

Thanks

Borzoi

Try and rent to a friend, even if slightly less dosh coming in. You vcan then 'bypass' some on the finer legal details. Besides the though of a stranger moving into my home, the horrors.

Hellrazer

From experience you dont have to do anything if you are going to be receiving less than €6000 per year which is roughly €115 per week.If you want you can notify the Revenue Commissioners just to make it legal.Secondly a rent book only has to consist of a duplicate book so that the tenant has a copy of rent paid.
Hope this helps
Richie

The_Conductor

Its actually £6,000 Irish pounds, i.e. Euro 7,200 (comeon someone else do the calculation)
You do have to claim it on your annual tax return (if you're a PAYE worker like most of us- you will have to submit an annual tax return), but there is no tax due on it.
Get a rent book from Threshold for the person, and they can reclaim up to Euro 270 tax relief on their rent.
Note: The amount of income is gross- i.e. you have to account for all money incoming from the person- be it for food, electricity or whatever. I'm sure you can creatively figure out a way to pay those bills without actually receiving cash into your hand?

There is a department of Finance circular on this which you can download from their website.

From 6 April 2001, where a room (or rooms) in a person’s principal private residence is let as
residential accommodation, gross annual rental income of up to £6,000 ( £ 7,620) is exempt from
tax. Relief in respect of mortgage interest relief is not affected. The relevant Capital Gains
Tax/Stamp Duty provisions are also not affected. Leaflet IT70 “A Revenue Guide to Rental Income”
gives more detailed information.

BattlingCheese

Thanks smccarrick, some good info there.

leeroybrown

Luckily if you're renting a room in your own residence it should qualify for tax exemption to a large degree.

If I were you I'd get a reasonable deposit and getting someone you know or someone who has been recommended to you by a friend is a far better alternative. I've let rooms to people for the last 4 years and I've limited to the most part to people I know or friends of friends.

It has worked out pretty well.

If I remember correctly YOU are responsible as landlord for all domestic refuse charges, rates etc.

You can also only retain money from the deposit to cover damage to the house/appartment and fixtures.

The_Conductor

In response to the above- renting a room in your home does not qualify for any tax exemptions whatsoever, apart from the Euro 7650 you are allowed to earn prior to paying tax. You are not allowed any additional exemptions that would accrue in a traditional rental property.
Also- strictly speaking, your "tenant" is a guest in your house, without rights (unless you decide to give them a specific written contract with specific rights accruing to them.
Any income of any nature whatsoever that you get from the "tenant" counts towards the 7650 limit, regardless of whether it is rent, their share of the phone bill, or if you buy the groceries and they make a contribution towards it.
Read the Department of Finance booklet I advised above- it will tell you exactly where you stand.