Tenancy disputes reach highest level ever

Rent arrears key issue as board receives 2,861 resolution requests

The number of disputes between landlords and tenants coming before the Private Residential Tenancies Board reached its highest level in a decade last year.

A total of 2,861 applications for dispute resolution were made to the PRTB in 2013 — a 26% increase on the previous year. It also represents a record number of disputes notified to the State board, which oversees the rental housing market, in its 10-year history.

Almost 60% of applications were made by tenants, with landlords accounting for 39% of cases and 3% made by third parties.

The main category of dispute related to rent arrears, accounting for more than a third of all cases coming before the PRTB last year.

The number of cases involving disputes over rent arrears has more than doubled since 2008 and reached almost 1,000 in 2013.

PRTB chairwoman Catriona Walsh said the board had noted an increase in the number of cases where the size of arrears exceeded the PRTB’s jurisdiction to engage in dispute resolution.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, the PRTB is limited to an award of €20,000 in rent arrears or twice the annual rent, whichever is the higher figure up to a maximum of €60,000.

“The increase highlights the need for landlords to deal with matters of rent arrears when they arise,” said Ms Walsh.

She claimed the number of requests to the PRTB from landlords for enforcement orders highlighted how the issue of rent arrears was “a serious and growing issue”.

However, the overwhelming majority of awards in cases relating to rent arrears are still less than €2,000.

Another major cause of disputes is deposit retention by landlords. The PRTB said there had been a notable increase in damages awarded against landlords for retaining deposits during 2013 as the legislation was “quite clear” that a deposit is the property of a tenant and may only be partially or wholly retained by a landlord for arrears or damages or where the tenant had provided inadequate notice.

Landlords were only allowed to retain the full deposit in 24% of disputed cases last year, while tenants received a full refund in 57% of cases.

Ms Walsh said demand for private rental housing had grown to a level not seen since the 1950s due to a lack of housing supply, difficulties in sourcing mortgages, and a number of initiatives in the private rented sector which had all contributed to rising rents.

More than 8,000 landlords were issued with warning notices that they faced criminal prosecution over their failure to register rental properties last year. In addition, the PRTB sent out 1,079 solicitor’s warning letters.

A total of 19 landlords were convicted of offences for not registering rental properties last year, resulting in total fines of €46,300 and costs of €55,700.

Almost one in ten cases of unregistered landlords were notified to the PRTB by whistleblowers, although the majority of cases were referred by the Department of Social Protection.

The PRTB has registered details of more than 179,000 landlords who provide housing to more than 457,200 tenants.

The board recorded 114,405 new tenancy agreements during 2013, while it paid out €1.2m to local authorities to conduct minimum standard inspections.

The PRTB has now paid out €26.6m since 2004 for inspections of rental accommodation.