[D'Peoples Voice]

According to the following document (which Union of Students in Ireland IIRC for some reason DO NOT GIVE to students)
http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Resi...ck%20Guide.doc

Originally Posted by full forward

If you have a dispute with the landlord use the small claims court. Most landlords wont bother to show up which means you win.

Quote from page 6-> Disputes arising between landlords and tenants are generally to be referred to the PRTB instead of the courts. Examples of disputes that will be dealt with by the Board include issues relating to; deposit refunds, breaches of tenancy obligations, lease terms, termination of tenancies, market rent, rent arrears, complaints by neighbours regarding tenant behaviour, etc.

Originally Posted by Victor

If you are likely to be staying for only a short time, explain this to your landlord. If you sign a one-year lease, the landlord can hold you to it.

Not if you give the required amount of notice-> see page 5
Quote from Page 9 -> A tenancy agreement or lease cannot take away from rights and obligations provided for in the Residential Tenacies Act 2004 and if it purports to do so, that provision is rendered void. The landlord or tenant cannot contract, or be contracted, out of the rights or obligations of the Act.
Therefore if you are entitled to give notice and leave thereafter, then my interpretation is that the landlord cannot make you pay for the remaining part of the lease.

Always ensure that your landlord is registered, in my experience there is less chance of your landlord being a conman!

[jih2000]

No one mentioned parking facilities, at one of my places above a shop, I had to walk quite some distance to the place I parked the car overnight, for me that is v important!

[bico]

Lived in a beautiful converted Georgian house , the floors were made of timber. Woke up night hearing my upstairs and downstairs neighbours going to the toilet , also heard many other noises that didn't leave much for the imagination. It's a good idea to make sure there's a thick concrete slab between yourself and the neighbours

[RuggieBear]

Originally Posted by bico

Lived in a beautiful converted Georgian house , the floors were made of timber. Woke up night hearing my upstairs and downstairs neighbours going to the toilet , also heard many other noises that didn't leave much for the imagination. It's a good idea to make sure there's a thick concrete slab between yourself and the neighbours

QFT.

have same issue at the moment. In old Georgian House too. Neighbours below us like to play loud music till 7am and the guy above is some sort of sexaholic

[Tea drinker]

We had students above us, they used to have mad parties in the house, on the stairs up to the house, on the street outside etc. They had wooden floors and sh!tty furniture that sounded like an elephant when it was moved. I never did figure out what they were doing to each other, (sounded like red hot poker in ass) but they did have to come down to apologise to us. complanied to our landlord, complained to management company.. took a while as DADDY owned the apartment.
Noise disruption is now some sort of asbo in Ireland, and the county council will inspect the noise if you ask.
Of course, if we had noise regs for the new apartments would have been great.

[antoinolachtnai]

Originally Posted by D'Peoples Voice

According to the following document (which Union of Students in Ireland IIRC for some reason DO NOT GIVE to students)
http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Resi...ck%20Guide.doc


Not if you give the required amount of notice-> see page 5
Quote from Page 9 -> A tenancy agreement or lease cannot take away from rights and obligations provided for in the Residential Tenacies Act 2004 and if it purports to do so, that provision is rendered void. The landlord or tenant cannot contract, or be contracted, out of the rights or obligations of the Act.
Therefore if you are entitled to give notice and leave thereafter, then my interpretation is that the landlord cannot make you pay for the remaining part of the lease.

I don't think the booklet is necessarily a correct interpretation of the law on that particular issue. The law is quite complicated on this topic. During the first six months, tenants have a lower level of protection than thereafter.

You should not depend on the PRTB material, it is not always correct.

[Dónal]

Was just flicking through seamus's great checklist as I'll probably be moving out in a few months. Are the landlords required to provide some items, e.g. fire alarms?

[January]

Originally Posted by seamus

Right, this is what I've come up with:
http://members.boards.ie/seamus/checklist.rtf
(Best viewed in MS Word unfortunately, otherwise you'll have to reduce your margins a bit)

Anything missing from there?

I know myself from bike/car hunting that you can sometimes forget to ask the right question/look at the right things, or if you look at a few things in one day, you'll forget which one has which feature...

Not workin for me??

[bostonian]

From my experience:

Don't live with couples- a 2 vs. 1 dynamic develops in times of conflict.

Meet the pets immediately. If the pet seems at all annoying, forget it. Some dogs are annoying with new people, but other dogs are annoying all the time, and you can't tell when you first meet them. Cats too.

Parking (if applicable). Think about security for street parking as well. Check the nearby sidewalks for smashed auto glass.

Drive by on a friday/saturday night, and see if it's a partying area.

Ask about the dishwashing/ cleaning of common areas policies NOW.

If you keep food in the house, it will be taken and not replaced.

Make sure the bedroom has a lock on the door.

Does the room get ventilation with the door closed?

[seamus]

Originally Posted by adrieanne__x

Not workin for me??

I managed to salvage something from google cache. members.boards.ie died a long time ago

I also thought I had uploaded this twice already. I did it 3 weeks ago

[Supercell]

Always ask if the house you are looking at is for sale at the same time (and google the address anyhow).
With the housing market in full crash mode right now many many places are both up for sale and up for rent.

You can be tossed out of the place with minimal notice if they find a buyer and the landlord will expect you to keep the place in pristine show house condition.
They often will want you to vacate the place to show it if/when they get viewings with very short notice.

Look for a SUBSTANTIAL discount on similar properties in the area to put up with this and make sure you can afford to move again at moments notice.
Personally would avoid houses for sale altogether, just not worth the hassle and upheaval.

[Victor]

Most noise that is experienced is from (a) overhead residents (b) exterior noise penetrating through windows - most of which is from the street.

The ground floor is the most accessible, making sense if you have a mobility problem. However, the ground floor is also reputed to be the most burgled or vandalised and risks rising damp. Any floor immediatly under a roof risks leaks.

Units with only north-facing windows don't get much sunlight, making those with southerly or dual aspects more desireable.

Upper storeys need less window cleaning, but may be harder to actually clean. Upper storeys can also be wind-blown.

Centre units have the best heat insulation as they gain heat from the surrounding units.

The top and bottom buttons on the intercom are the ones most likely to experience lost visitors or prank calls.

[Cabal]

I am just about to go and view some properties in Cork, and have never gone throught the whole househunting thing before, and I'm not sure what is normal procedure in Ireland. Is it acceptable to try and negotiate for a better monthly rate? I am prepared to haggle a little, but don't know if that is seriously frowned upon in Ireland, or just normal practice. Can anyone clear that up for me?
Thanks

***No need to answer, I found a similar thread on the forum ***

[agentyumi]

The following are some things to look for and questions to ask when viewing apartments. It's always better to check things out yourself whenever possible rather than asking, since the answer you get might not be accurate. Take notes so you won't forget anything.

• Are there laundry facilities? How much does laundry cost?
• Is any furniture included?
• Are the basics there (fridge, stove) and do they work?
• Is there hot water and good water pressure?
• Do the tub and sinks drain?
• Are ceilings or walls stained or cracked? This may indicate defective rain gutters, or a leaking roof or plumbing, which could cause mold or a collapse.
• Are there working smoke detectors in the building?
• Are there functioning deadbolt locks on the apartment doors and exterior doors?
• Are there storm windows and/or screens on the windows? Are there locks?
• Do the windows have blinds? If not, will the landlord provide them? (Get this in writing, of course!)
• Are windows secure or loose in the frame? Very gently push to check.
• Are there roaches? Open cabinets and immediately shine flashlight, look for roaches and eggs.
• Are there mice? Look for droppings in drawers, cabinets and closets.
• Are there phone jacks in each room? How many phone lines? Can DSL be installed?
• Is the apartment wired for cable? Where are the jacks? Are satellite dishes allowed?
• Is there parking? How much does it cost? How is parking enforced?
• Who is responsible for cleaning the common areas/ hallways, shoveling snow, and lawn care?
• Are any tenants staying? This shows the general satisfaction level with the building/landlord.
• Are pets allowed? Are there monthly pet fees?
• Does the furnace work? Even in summer, push the thermostat up to see if it turns on.
• Which utilities are included (gas, electricity, water, cable, phone)?
• If gas or electric aren't included, average bill for the apartment. It could be hundreds of dollars per month in the winter.

[Pauley2]

I'm thinking of renting out rooms in my house and have a few questions:
1)re the EUR10,000 tax free income limit:

Revenue say that:" The total (gross) rent you receive (which includes sums the tenant pays for food, laundry or similar goods and services) cannot exceed €10,000. If you receive rental income over and above this amount, you are not entitled to the relief."

Does "similar goods and services" include any contribution towards bills ("services") such as Electricity, Gas, TV, phone etc?

For example, If I collected 10,000 in straight rent and on top of that the tenants split the bills with me (so I get another say, 1,500), this would = 11,500. Would that kill the 10k tax relief or are utility bills omitted from the revenue definition of "services"?

2) What's reasonable access re shared areas of the house? e.g. am I expected to share my living room, TV. etc?

While I hardly expect tenants to come home and lock themselves in their room every night, neither could I bear to have to share the TV remote, or worse yet sit together and make small talk all evening...!