Tenancy A-Z

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R

Receipts

The landlord must issue the tenant written receipts for rent payments. These should be given immediately for cash payments or within 72 hours of payment in any other case. Receipts do not have to be given to the tenant where the tenant paid the landlord by automatic payment, by a non-negotiable cheque drawn on their account, into the landlord’s bank account used for that tenancy, by deduction from their benefit, or paid directly into the landlord’s account.  

The landlord must also supply the tenant with a written statement of the period to which any payment of rent relates, if the tenant requests it in writing. 

Records

The landlord must keep proper business records showing all payments of rent paid by or on behalf of the tenant, and any amount paid by way of bond by or on behalf of the tenant. Failure to keep proper records is unlawful. 

Repairs  

The landlord must provide and maintain the property in a reasonable state of repair, having regard to the age and character of the property and the period during which the property is likely to remain habitable and available for residential purposes.  

The landlord must also comply with all requirements in respect of building, health and safety under any enactment, so far as they apply to the property. 

The landlord must compensate the tenant for any reasonable expense incurred by the tenant in repairing the property where the need for repair did not result from a breach by the tenant and is likely to cause injury to people or property, or is otherwise serious and urgent. The tenant must have made a reasonable attempt to contact the landlord about the need for the repairs before carrying them out.

Where the repairs required are not serious and urgent, the tenant should notify the landlord and may issue the landlord with a notice to remedy the breach.

Where the tenant intentionally or carelessly causes damage to the property or allows others that they have invited onto the property to damage it, the tenant would be liable to repair the damage or to compensate the landlord for it. The tenant is not responsible for repairs or damage arising from burglaries, accident, acts of God, or fair wear and tear. However, tenants may be liable for repairs if they know about the need for them, they failed to advise the landlord, and the damage to the property became worse as a result. 

Rent 

Rent is any money, goods, services, or other valuable consideration in the nature of rent to be paid or supplied under a tenancy agreement by the tenant, but does not include any sum for a bond.  

The tenant is required to pay the rent on time for the correct amount in the manner prescribed in the tenancy agreement. Failure to do so is a breach of the agreement and the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and the tenant can be given a notice to remedy the breach. If the tenant falls at least 21 days in arrears, or fails to comply with a notice to remedy the breach, the landlord can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to recover the rent owing, and for termination of the tenancy if they desire it.  

The landlord can ask for up to a maximum of 2 weeks’ rent in advance. If a landlord asks a tenant to pay 2 weeks in advance, they are asking for rent to be paid fortnightly and at the beginning of each fortnightly period that the rent should cover. If the landlord asks the tenant to pay 1 week’s rent in advance, the tenant must pay the rent weekly and at the beginning of each weekly period that the rent should cover. A landlord cannot ask the tenant to pay any more rent before all the rent paid to the landlord is used up, nor can they hold rent from the start of the tenancy to be used at the end of the tenancy.

For most tenancies, the rent cannot be increased within 180 days of the beginning of the tenancy, nor within 180 days of the last rent increase. The landlord must give the tenant at least 60 days’ written notice to increase the rent in addition to a period allowed to correctly serve the notice. There is no limit as to how much a landlord may increase the rent by, as long as the rent is not increased excessively above market rate.

Rent can only be increased for fixed-term tenancies where provision for this is written into the tenancy agreement.

If the rent is excessive, the tenant may apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for a market rent assessment. If the Tribunal finds that the rent is too high, it may order a reduction in the rent. Market rent applications can only be filed for fixed-term tenancies within 3 months of the beginning of the tenancy or 3 months of the date of the last rent review.

See Forms and Info for rent forms and information.