Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020
Number 7 of 2020
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES AND VALUATION ACT 2020
REVISED
Updated to 24 July 2022
This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.
All Acts up to and including the Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022 (29/2022), enacted 24 July 2022, and all statutory instruments up to and including the Industrial Training (Sporting Grounds Industry) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 405 of 2022), made 26 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this Revised Act.
Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to
revisedacts@lawreform.ie.
Number 7 of 2020
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES AND VALUATION ACT 2020
REVISED
Updated to 24 July 2022
Introduction
This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was passed.
Related legislation
Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022: this Act is one of a group of Acts included in this collective citation, to be construed together as one (Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (15/2022), s. 99(2)). The Acts in this group are:
• Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (27/2004)
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2009 (2/2009)
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (22/2009), s. 100
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 (42/2015), other than s. 1(3) and ss. 15, 85 and 87
• Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 (17/2016), s. 1(2)(b), part 3 and sch.
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 (14/2019), other than s. 38
• Local Government Rates and other Matters Act 2019 (24/2019), ss. 25, 26
• Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 (7/2020), other than s. 14
• Residential Tenancies Act 2020 (17/2020)
• Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 (27/2020), Part 3
• Residential Tenancies Act 2021 (5/2021)
• Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 (17/2021)
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 (39/2021)
• Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (15/2022), Part 11 (ss. 91-99)
Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020: this Act is one of a group of Acts included in this collective citation (Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 (7/2020), s. 1(3)). The Acts in this group are:
• Valuation Act 2001 (13/2001)
• Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006 (42/2006), s. 8
• Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), ss. 1(3), 33 and so much of Schedule 2, Part 6 as relates to the Valuation Act 2001
• Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Act 2014 (17/2014), s. 16
• Water Services Act 2014 (44/2014), s. 12
• Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015 (10/2015)
• Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Act 2019 (42/2019), s. 6
• Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 (7/2020), s. 14
Annotations
This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions.
An explanation of how to read annotations is available at
www.lawreform.ie/annotations.
Material not updated in this revision
Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.
Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.
A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at
www.irishstatutebook.ie.
Acts which affect or previously affected this revision
• Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022 (29/2022)
• Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 (39/2021)
• Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 (27/2020)
All Acts up to and including Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022 (29/2022), enacted 24 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this revision.
Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision
None
All statutory instruments up to and including Industrial Training (Sporting Grounds Industry) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 405 of 2022), made 26 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this revision.
Number 7 of 2020
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES AND VALUATION ACT 2020
REVISED
Updated to 24 July 2022
CONTENTS
Preliminary and General
1. Short title and collective citations
Protection of Tenants During Emergency Period
5. Notices of termination served during emergency period
6. Prohibition on rent increases during emergency period
7. Service of declaration under section 4
Miscellaneous
8. Proceedings before Tenancy Tribunal under Act of 2004
9. Amendment of section 34 of Act of 2004
10. Amendment of section 35 of Act of 2004
11. Referral of notice of termination to adjudicator under Act of 2004
Acts Referred to
Comhairle Act 2000 (No. 1)
Companies Act 2014 (No. 38)
Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 (No. 2)
Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1)
Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 (No. 14)
Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (No. 27)
Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2019
Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 (No. 22)
Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26)
Valuation Act 2001 (No. 13)
Valuation Acts 2001 to 2019
Number 7 of 2020
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES AND VALUATION ACT 2020
REVISED
Updated to 24 July 2022
An Act to increase notice periods in relation to notices of termination served on tenants during the period from the date of the passing of this Act to 10 January 2021 for failure to pay rent due and to prohibit increases in rents on tenancies of dwellings during that period; to make provision in relation to the giving of notifications, and notices of termination, by landlords to tenants and the Residential Tenancies Board in relation to arrears of rent; to extend the period within which a valuation list in relation to the rating authority area of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council shall be published; for those and other purposes, to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 and the Valuation Act 2001; and to provide for matters connected therewith. [1st August, 2020]
WHEREAS the crisis occasioned by the spread of the disease known as Covid-19 is causing and will continue to cause significant harm to the economy of the State and has thus far resulted in a substantial increase in the number of persons who have become unemployed;
WHEREAS the rise in unemployment among persons who reside in residential tenancy accommodation has had an adverse impact on the ability of such persons to meet their obligations to pay rent due, thereby presenting an imminent risk that a significant number of residential tenancies will be terminated by landlords;
WHEREAS any significant increase in terminations of residential tenancies accommodation by landlords increases the likelihood that the former occupants of such accommodation would have great difficulty securing alternative accommodation which could cause acute aggravation of difficulties in the residential accommodation sector including difficulties relating to overcrowding, thereby presenting a substantial risk of spread of that disease with a consequent need for measures to counter its spread that would likely have further adverse economic consequences for the State;
WHEREAS the State has already taken significant measures to deal with the aforementioned crisis including measures to support the economy that have required and continue to require substantial disbursement and expenditure of public moneys; and
WHEREAS the Oireachtas has, with regard to Part 2 and section 13 of this Act, taken account of the matters referred to in the foregoing recitals.
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows: