Renting a room question

heinoman

Have bought a place, am thinking about renting a room but have a few questions, hopefully theres someone out there who has been here before. . .

As I will be away a bit with work and going home, is it unusual to ask for a deposit (in addition to a months rent in advance). I'm hoping to get someone quiet but I guess you can't tell, am just worried as I wont always be there at weekends etc, that should anything happen without a deposit i'd be screwed.

Presume its not normal to have a lease in this situation, just have it a month at a time and either party can give notice at any stage?

Do I have to register with the PRTB if I hold a lease, I looked and it appears to be only if you are not living there?

As the income will be under 10k pa I will be able to avail of Revenues 'rent a room scheme' so I presume its OK for the tenent to claim rent relief OK?

I've looked around and can't find the answers to the above, any help would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks.

The_Conductor

heinoman wrote: »

Have bought a place, am thinking about renting a room but have a few questions, hopefully theres someone out there who has been here before. . .

As I will be away a bit with work and going home, is it unusual to ask for a deposit (in addition to a months rent in advance). I'm hoping to get someone quiet but I guess you can't tell, am just worried as I wont always be there at weekends etc, that should anything happen without a deposit i'd be screwed.

Yes- in an Irish context its unusual to ask for more than month's rent as a deposit. On the continent and in the US- its entirely normal.

Personally I think its crazy to use the rent-a-room scheme- if you're going to be away from the property for protracted periods of time. You can draw up a 'contract' where they agree to keep their room tidy, turn off the immersion heater after use- general housekeeping stuff- but if you're not going to be around to keep an eye on things- anything at all could happen.

If I had my personal choice of room mates- I'd pop a sign up in the staff room in a local hospital offering the room to a junior doctor (not nurse)- as they are exhausted from their ridiculous hours and likely to be some of the quietest roommates on the planet (most of the time).

heinoman wrote: »

Presume its not normal to have a lease in this situation, just have it a month at a time and either party can give notice at any stage?

Correct. The person is living with you 'under licence' and does not have the rights a normal tenancy would entail. By giving them a 'lease' you are giving them a load of rights they have no entitlement to. You can actually ask them to leave at any stage at all, without reason or notice- it is your own home after all.

heinoman wrote: »

Do I have to register with the PRTB if I hold a lease, I looked and it appears to be only if you are not living there?

No- you do not have to register with the PRTB. It is not a tenancy- and the PRTB will not intercede in a rent-a-room dispute, were one to arise.

heinoman wrote: »

As the income will be under 10k pa I will be able to avail of Revenues 'rent a room scheme' so I presume its OK for the tenent to claim rent relief OK?

The income- has to include all billshares etc- its not just the headline rent- but once the gross amount is under 10k- it is indeed tax free. You are obliged to do an annual tax return declaring the income however (you may be pleasantly surprised with a rebate from overpaid tax or undeclared credits- as a PAYE employee!)

heinoman wrote: »

I've looked around and can't find the answers to the above, any help would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks.

If you have any questions at all- feel free to ask away.

heinoman

Thanks so much for the very helpful reply.