Housing Law
Tenants have legal rights and duties. Your legal rights derive from general landlord/tenant law as well as from any written or verbal tenancy agreement between you and your landlord. Duties include paying your rent, keeping the place in good order, avoiding damage or nuisance and complying with any special terms set down in your tenancy agreement, verbal or written.

We have provided an overview of the most important rights and duties below, for a more comprehensive list click here

Deposits
Most landlords look for a deposit - often a month’s rent. Generally the landlord holds the deposit as security against your breaking the windows and/or tenancy agreement. You will lose your deposit if you:

• don’t give proper notice or leave before the end of your lease
• damage the landlord’s property over and above normal wear and tear
• leave rent or bills unpaid

All of which is fair enough really. If you feel that your deposit has been unfairly withheld, you may be able to recover it through the Private Residential Tenancies Board. For further information contact them on the number supplied below.

Rent Books
Rent books are the law. Your landlord has to provide you with a rent book or written letting agreement or lease. All payments made to the landlord, must be recorded either in the rent book or by written statement. In addition, the rent book must contain other information about the tenancy, specified by the Rent Book Regulations

• the address of the rented dwelling
• the name and address of the landlord and his agent
• the name of the tenant
• the term of the tenancy
• the amount of rent, when and how it is to be paid
• any details of other payments (e.g. telephone, TV, Cablelink)
• the amount and purpose of any deposit paid and the conditions under which it will be returned to the tenant
• a statement of information on basic rights and duties of landlords and tenants

If your landlord refuses to supply a rent book you should contact your local council or corporation who may prosecute the landlord.

Leases and Letting Agreements
It sounds obvious but f you are signing a lease, it is important to read it carefully. A formal letting agreement is usually for a fixed period (e.g. a year). So if you decide to leave earlier you will lose your deposit. You cannot be asked to leave during the lease unless you break one of the terms. You are entitled to formal notice of any claim that you have broken the tenancy conditions and to be given time to set things right. Tenants should always be given the original lease and the landlord keeps a copy.

The landlord must also register the letting agreement with the Private Residential Tenancies Board who will write to you to confirm your registration. Make sure you ask your landlord about this as they are the authority you will end up going to in the event of any disputes over witheld deposits / other disputes.

Privacy
As a tenant you are entitled to quiet and peaceful enjoyment of your home, if that's what you want. Your landlord is only allowed enter with your permission. If the landlord needs to carry out repairs or inspect the premises, it should be by prior arrangement with you.

Visitors
You are entitled to have friends to stay overnight, unless specifically forbidden in your tenancy agreement. An extra person (or say, all your college buddies) moving in though... well that's an entirely different kettle of fish. A kettle of fish frowned on by landlords as well as the legal system.

Noise
You should check with your landlord if there are set conditions about parties and noise. In fact, you will find that many landlords even have a bizarre kind of "noise radar" with which they can detect all unlikely rises in decibel at your gaff. They have the interests of other tenants and neighbours to worry about, so it's not a bad idea to settle on some acceptable level of noise. AC/DC may think rock 'n' roll's not noise pollution. But unfortunately, not many landlords listen to AC/DC.

Standards
Your landlord must, by law, ensure that your flat complies with certain minimum standards [e.g. free from damp, in good structural repair, hot and cold water, adequate means of heating and ventilation, appliances in good working order, electrical wiring, gas, pipes in good repair, acceptable levels of radiation etc]. Click here for a full list of minimum standards.

If your flat does not comply with these standards [or starts to glow strangely], report it to your local authority immediately. An inspection will be carried out and the landlord ordered to do any necessary repairs. Bring any repair problems to your landlord’s attention as soon as they arise. As a tenant you are not responsible for repairs due to fair wear and tear.

Good luck. It is a jungle out there.

Useful Numbers:
Threshold (Tenants Rights organisation) : 01 8726311 Free Legal Advice Centre: 1890 350 250 Private Residential Tenancies Board: (01) 635 0600