Rent a Room Query

Man007

Hi

I'm currently letting a granny flat which is attached to my ppr. It has it's own front door but was originally part of the house.

I originally thought it qualified for rent a room tax relief but after reading some conflicting posts I'm unsure.

Does anyone know for sure whether it does or doesn't qualify I get under €10k a year and its not a separate address it doesn't have it's own gas or esb bills but does have separate tv and Internet bills.

Thanks in advance.

rcdk1

I think your question hinges on the definition of a "dwelling" as applies to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. It defines a "dwelling" as:

‘‘dwelling’’ means, subject to subsection (2), a property let for rent or valuable consideration as a self-contained residential unit and includes any building or part of a building used as a dwelling and any out office, yard, garden or other land appurtenant to it or usually enjoyed with it and, where the context so admits, includes a property available for letting but excludes a structure that is not permanently attached to the ground and a vessel and a vehicle (whether mobile or not);

And the exemption you refer to is:

3.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies to every dwelling, the subject of a tenancy (including a tenancy created before the passing of this Act).
(2) Subject to section 4(2), this Act does not apply to any of the following dwellings—
.............
(g) a dwelling within which the landlord also resides,

So the question is:

• Do you reside in the same dwelling as your tenant?

To the best of my knowledge if the granny flat has a separate entrance, it's own bathroom and a kitchen (or kitchenette) then it is considered to be a separate dwelling. Therefore the Act does apply to it and you're not entitled to avail of the "rent-a-room" exemption above.

The fact that there aren't separate utility bills (presumably because there aren't separate meters?) does cloud the issue slightly, but it's not unknown for landlords to include utility bills in the rent.

Man007

Just in case anyone else is wondering in future as I struggled to find info the Revenue have confirmed it does qualify once it is attached to the main building it doesn't matter if it is self contained