Housing (private rented dwellings) act, 1982

• Enactment Date: 21 May 1982
• Act Number: 6

Number 6 of 1982
HOUSING (PRIVATE RENTED DWELLINGS) ACT, 1982
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary and General
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation generally. 3. Expenses. 4. Service of notices. 5. Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas. 6. Repeals.
PART II
Tenancies of Certain Dwellings
7. Interpretation (Part II). 8. Application of this Part. 9. Entitlement of tenants to retain possession. 10. Surrender of dwelling. 11. Terms of tenancies. 12. Terms of tenancy where fixed by the Court. 13. Fixing of rent by the Court. 14. Compensation for loss. 15. Compensation for improvements. 16. Recovery of possession. 17. Amendments of section 15 of Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851. 18. Powers of Court in ejectment proceedings. 19. Order for possession obtained by misrepresentation. 20. Acceptance of rent by landlord after institution of proceedings. 21. Jurisdiction of District Court. 22. Restriction of enactments relating to settled land. 23. Rent allowances for tenants.
PART III
Rented Dwellings-Registration, Rent Books, Standards
24. Registration of rented dwellings. 25. Rent books. 26. Standards for rented dwellings. 27. Offences.
Acts Referred to Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976 Companies Acts, 1963 and 1977 Family Home Protection Act, 1976 1976, No. 27 Housing Act, 1966 1966, No. 21 Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1971 1971, No. 30 Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1980 1980, No. 10 Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 1963, No. 28 Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 1851, c. 93 Rent Restrictions Act, 1960 1960, No. 42 Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967 1967, No. 10 Rent Restrictions Acts, 1960 to 1981 Rent Restrictions (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1981 1981, No. 26 Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 1981, No. 1 Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851 1851, c. 92
Number 6 of 1982
HOUSING (PRIVATE RENTED DWELLINGS) ACT, 1982
AN ACT TO PROVIDE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EXIGENCIES OF THE COMMON GOOD, FOR A MEASURE OF SECURITY OF TENURE FOR THE TENANTS OF CERTAIN DWELLINGS, FOR THE RENTS OF SUCH DWELLINGS AND FOR THE EVENTUAL CESSER OF THE ENTITLEMENT OF SUCH TENANTS TO RETAIN POSSESSION OF SUCH DWELLINGS, TO PROVIDE FOR ALLOWANCES FOR CERTAIN TENANTS, FOR THE REGISTRATION OF RENTED DWELLINGS AND FOR STANDARDS FOR RENTED DWELLINGS AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [21st May, 1982]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART I Preliminary and General
	Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982.
	(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.
	Interpretation generally.	2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—
	“the Court” means the District Court;
	“dwelling” means a house let as a separate dwelling, or a part so let, of any house, whether or not the tenant shares with any other persons any portion thereof or any accommodation, amenity or facility in connection therewith;
	“housing authority” means—-
	(a) in the case of a county, exclusive of any borough or urban district therein, the council of the county,
	(b) in the case of a county or other borough, the corporation of the borough, and
	(c) in the case of an urban district, the council of the district,
	and references to the functional area of a housing authority shall be construed accordingly;
	“landlord” means the person for the time being entitled to receive (otherwise than as agent for another person) the rent payable in respect of a dwelling;
	“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment.
	(2) A reference in this Act to a Part or a section is to a Part or a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.
	(3) A reference in this Act to a subsection, paragraph or other division is to the subsection, paragraph or other division of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.
	Expenses.	3.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
	Service of notices.	4.—(1) Where a notice or claim under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is to be given to or served on a person, it shall be addressed to him and shall be given to or served on him in some one of the following ways:
	(a) where it is addressed to him by name, by delivering it to him;
	(b) by leaving it at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address;
	(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to him at the address at which he ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address.
	(2) For the purposes of this section, a company registered under the Companies Acts, 1963 and 1977, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.
	(3) Where a notice or claim under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is given or served on behalf of a person, it shall be deemed to be given or served by that person.
	Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.	5.—Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
	Repeals.	6.—The Rent Restrictions Act, 1960 , the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967 , and sections 10 and 11 of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1971 , are hereby repealed.
PART II Tenancies of Certain Dwellings
	Interpretation ( Part II ).	7.—(1) In this Part, except where the context otherwise requires—
	“the Act of 1980” means the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1980 ;
	“dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates” means a dwelling to which, by virtue of that provision, this Part applies;
	“improvement” means any addition to or alteration of a dwelling carried out by the tenant or any of his predecessors in title on or after the 31st day of December, 1960, which adds to the letting value of the dwelling and includes any addition or alteration connected with the provision of any services to the dwelling, but does not include work of repairing (except where such work was the responsibility of the landlord and he failed to carry out the work), painting and decorating or any of them;
	“tenant” means the person for the time being entitled to the possession of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates and includes a person—
	(a) who would, at the commencement of this Act, be the tenant of the dwelling if the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960 , and the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967 , had full force and effect at all times from their passing until such commencement, and
	(b) who is in possession of the dwelling at such commencement, and
	(c) whose tenancy is not a tenancy in respect of which an order for possession has been made under section 5 of the Rent Restrictions (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1981 .
	(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person shall be deemed to be a member of the family of a tenant if—
	(a) such person is the tenant's father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, step-father, step-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, nephew, niece, grandson, granddaughter, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle or aunt;
	or
	(b) such person is adopted by the tenant under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, or is the illegitimate offspring of the tenant (being the mother or the reputed father of such offspring) or is a person who was in bona fide residence with the tenant for not less than six years before the tenant's death where the tenant was in loco parentis to that person.
	Application of this Part.	8.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Part applies to every dwelling which would, at the commencement of this Act, be a controlled dwelling within the meaning of the Rent Restrictions Acts, 1960 to 1981, if those Acts had full force and effect at such commencement, other than such a dwelling held at such commencement under a contract of tenancy for greater than from year to year during such period as it is so held.
	(2) Sections 9 and 16 do not apply to—
	(a) a dwelling let to a person in connection with his continuance in any office, appointment or employment,
	or
	(b) a dwelling let bona fide for the temporary convenience or to meet a temporary necessity of the landlord or the tenant.
	(3) Where—
	(a) the entitlement of a tenant to retain possession of a dwelling to which subsection (1) relates ceases to subsist, or
	(b) the tenant of the dwelling assigns or sublets his tenancy, or
	(c) the landlord of the dwelling recovers possession of the dwelling,
	this Part shall cease to...