Where you have instructed your solicitor in the sale of a rented dwelling house, where they have served already a Notice of Termination on your Tenant with the correct Termination Date having occurred after the 1st November 2022 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended), regrettably it would appear that the dates which previously applied will no longer apply: due to the enactment of the Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022.
Please see web link to the Act as published: Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 (irishstatutebook.ie)
The “Winter Emergency Period”
If you read Section 1 of the Act (“Interpretation” section) you will note that it refers to the “Winter Emergency Period” extending up to the 31st March 2023 and you will also note that Section 2(1) of the Act records that, where a Notice of Termination served by a Landlord on or before the date of the passing of this Act (the 1st November 2022 ) specifies a Termination Date that falls during the Winter Emergency Period, the Termination Date shall be deemed to be the deferred to a Termination Date specified in Section 2(3).
In some instances, depending on the length of the tenancy, the deferred date can extend as far as the 18th June 2023. This is explained in greater detail on the Residential Tenancies Board website at Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 | Residential Tenancies Board (rtb.ie) .
Some exceptions, but ….
While there are some exceptions under the Act, intended sale (or indeed taking back the property for family use) is not one of them. As such, landlords are particularly hard done by. I am aware in some cases of Notices of Termination that were served as long ago as late March 2022 which are trapped by this legislation.
The landlord will be bound by the provisions of the new Act and failure by the landlord to abide by the provisions could lead to an Application by the Tenant against you to the Residential Tenancies Board. Breach of the Act could result in an award of compensation and Costs against you, the landlord.
This means you, a landlord, have one of two options:
Option 1
You agree to defer the Completion date of the sale of your property until after the expiry of the “Winter Emergency Period”.; or
Option 2
You agree with your purchaser that the property will be sold with the existing tenancy.
In some instances, particularly where the Purchaser is buying the property as an investment property for the purpose of letting, the Purchaser may have no objection to this. If however the Purchaser is actually buying the property for their own use, the Purchaser will be unlikely to agree to this.
Protected Tenancies?
This legislation has been justified on the basis that there is a Housing crisis; but has there not been a Housing crisis already, and who is to say that there won`t still be a Housing crisis at the end of next March? If there is, will the “Winter Emergency Period” be extended?
Protections for Landlords?
What about the landlord who must sell their dwelling now because of rising Interest Rates? What about the landlord who needs to vacate his rented property to allow his student children live in the city?
We have heard a lot in the news about small-time private landlords selling up and getting out. Is it any wonder?
Read our free Guide to Selling your House on our website:
Morgan-McManus-Guide-to-Selling-Your-House-November-2020.pdf (morganmcmanus.com) .
For further information on Property Transactions, you should contact:
Brian Morgan
Morgan McManus Solicitors
Web: www.morganmcmanus.com
Email: bmorgan@morganmcmanus.ie
Ph. No.: 00353 47 51011