Residential Tenancy Lease

A residential lease agreement or a residential tenancy agreement, as it is also called, is a contract between a landlord and a tenant setting out the terms and conditions upon which a landlord is willing to let out a residential rental property to one or more tenants.

The letting of residential properties in Ireland is governed by a number of pieces of legislation including:

• The Housing (Rent Books) Regulations 1993 (as amended);

• The Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 1993; and

• The Residential Tenancies Act, 2004.

Of these pieces of legislation, the Residential Tenancies Act is perhaps the most significant as it applies to the vast majority of residential lettings in Ireland. The act sets out a number of general obligations for both landlords and tenants. Generally speaking, these obligations cannot be modified or lessened under the terms of a residential lease or other agreement. That said, the parties may agree more favourable terms for the tenant than prescribed under the act.

While residential tenancy agreements can be either written or oral, there are a number of pitfalls associated with the use of oral agreements. If an oral tenancy agreement is used, in the case of a dispute between the landlord and tenant there is no proof of the terms agreed at the start of the tenancy, and this can lead to problems.

All residential lease agreements should ideally be in writing and state the names of the parties involved, the amount of rent payable by the tenant and the frequency of payment, the amount of any deposit paid by the tenant to the landlord, the address of the rental property, the date on which the residential tenancy starts and ends, the obligations of the tenant and the obligations of the landlord.

Other standard information that should be contained in all residential tenancy agreements includes:

– the name and address of any letting agent;

– the method by which rent will be paid to the landlord;

– any additional charges payable by the tenant (e.g. phone bills, etc);

– whether the tenancy can be ended early by the landlord or tenant and, if so, in what circumstances and on the giving of how much notice;

– who is responsible for minor repairs to the property;

– whether the tenant is allowed to sublet the property;

– whether a tenant can have lodgers; and

– rules regarding pets, smoking, noise, cleaning, future viewings, etc.

Once prepared, the lease agreement will need to be read and signed by both the landlord and the tenant. The tenant will be entitled to receive a copy of the lease agreement before signing it and should be afforded sufficient time to read and understand the agreement in advance.

All residential tenancy agreements must comply with the legislation governing the rental of residential properties as described above (including the Residential Tenancies Act).These laws are binding and enforceable regardless of whether there is a written lease in place and irrespective of what is written in a lease agreement.

Detailed information in relation to each clause of this agreement and on how to complete the agreement are contained in the notes that accompany the agreement.

What’s included in Enodare’s Residential Lease Agreement?

Enodare’s residential lease agreement complies will all applicable legislation (including the Residential Tenancies Act) and includes the following principal clauses and schedules:

• details of the parties involved;
• details of the landlord’s obligations;
• details of the tenant’s obligations;
• details of any special conditions relating to the letting of the property; and
• a spousal guarantee for the purposes of the Family Home Protection Act.
  

The schedules to the residential lease agreement are as follows:

• First Schedule – details of the property being let.
• Second Schedule – details of the principal terms of the letting.
• Third Schedule – inventory of the furniture and fittings in the property.
• Fourth Schedule – details of common areas.
• Fifth Schedule – information required to be provided to tenants under existing housing legislation.

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