Cork landlord seeking €5k upfront from students

Practice a 'total breach' of Residential Tenancies Board rules, Oireachtas committee hears

In response to the case, the Residential Tenancies Board said that tenants are 'not supposed to be put under that kind of pressure, be they students or non-students'. Picture: Unsplash

A Cork landlord is asking seven students to pay deposits of €1,500 each for a home near University College Cork (UCC) from August, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was also told that the same group of students were told that they would each have to pay the first half of the year's rent, €3,500 each, to secure the tenancy.

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke told representatives from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) who were before the committee that he had been sent an email on February 16 from the students. He said that it was a "total breach" of RTB rules and asked what action the RTB could take if a complaint was made.

'Controls on deposits'

In response, RTB director Niall Byrne said that "there are controls on deposits and requirements around deposit-taking" and that tenants are

"not supposed to be put under that kind of pressure, be they students or non-students".

Mr Burke said that the mere action of sending the email to the students showed that the landlord believed that "no action would be taken".

"I'm sure this is not the only case around. This is just a group of seven students who have contacted me."

Mr Burke said that he was concerned that the practice was more widespread than this one case.

Mr Byrne said that the landlord is mistaken in the belief that there would be no sanction should a complaint about the case be made to the RTB.

"If the landlord believes that there are no consequences, the landlord is entirely wrong. So if that information is referred to us by [Mr Burke] or by the students themselves, and we'd encourage the students to come to us, because we want students and all tenants to feel free and able to come to the RTB, then we will most certainly follow up on that as a matter of urgency."

Mr Byrne also told Mr Burke that the RTB has been engaging with residents near UCC in relation to unregistered tenancies.