Too many renters in Ireland have zero legal protections

People who live in digs, spare rooms, sheds or sublets fall outside every legal protection available to tenants — and they are nothing more than a cash cow to policymakers

What began as short-term lodging has grown into a major feature of Ireland’s informal housing system, one built on insecurity.

Ireland’s rental crisis has produced many casualties, but perhaps the most invisible are licensees: people living in digs, spare rooms, sheds or sublets who fall outside the protections of tenancy law. They fall outside the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). 

Unlike tenants, they have no security of tenure, no access to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), and no guarantee of basic housing standards.