Tenants of country's biggest landlord face rising costs due to strict 'flatmate swap' rule

The dispute centres around multiple tenants at Ires Reit apartment complexes. File photo. Alamy Stock Photo

Renting

Tenants of Ires Reit at one Dublin complex are linking the firm's current approach to changes to rent rules that came in at the start of March.

MULTIPLE TENANTS OF the country's largest landlord firm are locked in a stand off over what they say is a hardening of policy on allowing tenants to replace departing flatmates and still maintain their existing rental agreement. 

The tenants contend the company, Ires Reit, has changed its approach to swapping out tenants and are linking the move to the nationwide change to rent rules that came into effect at the start of March.

The firm said in a statement: "Under our current policy the addition of new tenants to existing leases and subletting are not permitted."

Ires Reit was contacted yesterday and did not provide further clarity as to when any changes to its policies in this area were implemented.

In the Dublin suburb of Drimnagh, residents of separate apartments in the Lansdowne Gate complex who have been living there for several years told The Journal they were no longer able to swap out departing flatmates and move someone else into the empty rooms. The residents had been able to do so before, on the same lease agreements they have now, they said.

Tenants at The Marker in Grand Canal Dock, another Ires Reit property, reported similar issues.

The Drimnagh residents said they have been given options of either paying more rent to make up for the empty room, or leaving the apartment.

The tenants said that they had not been offered a new lease by Ires Reit, however, they expressed a reluctance over signing a new lease as they would then be subject to a rent increase potentially up to market rate levels within six years under the new rental laws.

One longstanding tenant said they felt it was wrong that "rooms are being left empty during a housing crisis" as a result of the dispute.

They had effectively been told, they said: "Remaining tenants split the rent or you give in your notice."

Two local TDs have taken up the case of the Drimnagh renters with Ires Reit directly.

Máire Devine, of Sinn Féin, said in her letter that the tenants could face "financial distress and homelessness" if the situation is not resolved, and that the case risked being referred to the regulator for the sector, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). It's understood no formal contact has been made on the cases with the RTB as yet.

Fellow Dublin Southwest TD Catherine Ardagh, of Fianna Fáil, wrote that the tenants she had spoken to had a "positive experience" of Landsdowne Gate, and simply wanted a "constructive resolution" that respects everyone's "rights and obligations".

Ires Reit's managing director of operations Alan Kavanagh told both TDs that the company would not comment on individual tenancies - adding that the tenants should engage directly with the company, and said that the firm was committed to working through the issues raised.

He told the deputies the company remains "fully compliant" with all regulatory and legislative requirements.

New rental rules 

One tenant at the Drimnagh complex noted that the rent paid in some of the apartments where renters have been told they can't swap in new flatmates is approximately €2,400 per month, but that other similar properties in the same building range from between €3,100 and €3,500. 

The reason for the disparity between longstanding tenancies and new ones is because many private rental properties in urban areas have had any annual increases capped under Rental Pressure Zone (RPZ) rules that came into effect almost a decade ago.

New rules that came into force on 1 March allow landlords to reset rents to market rates between one tenancy and another when the property is vacated.

In its statement to The Journal Ires Reit reiterated that it was unable to comment on individual cases and encouraged the tenants to engage with the firm, adding:

"Our approach to tenancy management reflects the legal framework governing residential tenancies in Ireland. Leases are structured as either single or joint tenancies. Any changes to the named parties require the agreement of all parties.

"Under our current policy the addition of new tenants to existing leases and subletting are not permitted.

"Any new tenancies reflect the new regulations as required and set out in legislation."

In Ires Reit's annual report, published this week, the property firm estimated that its rents are 20% below market value because they have been subject to the government's older caps for so long.

Under the new rental rules, landlords are barred from raising the rent to market rate levels for tenants who had been renting with them prior to the wide-sweeping reforms.

Laws around replacing tenants

In cases of the Ires Reit tenants in Drimnagh who spoke to The Journal, their leases state that the landlord is not to "unreasonably" withhold consent to allow tenants move someone else in when a flatmate departs.

Housing advocacy group Threshold told The Journal that while tenants may have been able to replace flatmates previously without encountering problems, they have "no express right" to swap in a person of their choosing.

A spokesperson for Threshold said that it was important to note that if a new flatmate is brought in, whether it is one of the existing tenants choosing them or not, "no new tenancy is being created".

They added: "So while the landlord can issue a new lease agreement, the rent can only be increased in line with the rules for existing tenancies and not those for new tenancies."

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