Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 - Amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004

Further changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (the “2004 Act”) have been introduced by the Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (the “2022 Act”) which was signed into law by President Higgins on 6 July 2022.

Landlords need to be conscious of these changes as a failure to comply with the new notice periods or other changes brought about by the 2022 Act could result in a notice of termination served on a tenant being deemed invalid by the RTB.

Section 92 of the 2022 Act removes the obligation on a tenant to provide contact details in the event that the property becomes available for reletting after the service of the notice of termination.

Section 93 of the 2022 Act provides for consequential amendments given the alteration made in Section 92, together with imposing a longstop date of 7 days for the tenant to respond to an offer to take back possession and continue the tenancy previously vacated following a notice of termination.

Section 94 of the 2022 Act provides that at the time of service of a notice of termination, a copy must be served on the RTB. The previous provision obliged a landlord to serve a copy notice of termination on the RTB only in the case of non-payment of rent. The deletion of reference to Section 16a of the 2004 Act now makes this requirement mandatory for all notices of termination served.

Section 95 of the 2022 Act provides for the increase in the maximum notice period for tenancies of less than 6 months to 90 days.

Section 96 of the 2022 Act provides for new notice periods to be given in respect of a notice of termination served by a landlord on a tenant, as follows:

Termination by Landlord

• Duration of Tenancy Less than 6 months 90 days
• Not less than 6 months but less than one year 152 days
• Not less than one year but less than 7 years 180 days
• Not less than 7 years but less than 8 years 196 days
• Not less than 8 years 224 days

There are also provisions within Section 96 of the 2022 Act to allow the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to review the operation and report on the changes made to the notice periods.

Section 97 of the 2022 Act is a consequential amendment given the widening of the obligation to serve notice on the RTB in respect of all notices of termination issued.

Section 98 of the 2022 Act provides for an increase in the time to bring a dispute to the RTB to 90 days for those disputes relating to a notice of termination save where such notices relate to a breach of obligations. Where disputes relate to a breach of obligations the period to bring a dispute to the RTB remains at 28 days.

The Residential Tenancies Acts should now be cited as The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022. The provisions above commenced on enactment on 6 July 2022 and all notices served must comply with the above provisions from that date.