In 2023, following extensive engagement, officials from my Department and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth agreed a protocol on the use of student accommodation for humanitarian accommodation. It was agreed that student accommodation must be vacant for 12 months before it can be considered for use for humanitarian purposes. The operator of the accommodation referred to in Sligo did not rent to students for over 12 months before repurposing it for private rental.
While I am aware of the complexity of the housing demands across the two policy areas, it is imperative that student accommodation is retained and available for essential student use during each academic year in the future.
Responsibility for humanitarian accommodation has transferred to the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. Information relating to Benbulben Court and Milligan Court can be requested from the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, contactable by email at info@justice.ie.
Clarion Village is privately owned and operated student accommodation and as such is outside of my remit as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022, to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. Registered landlords and all tenants can apply to the RTB for dispute resolution.
Student specific accommodation is within the remit of the RTB. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 provides for relevant rights and obligations to apply to tenancy and licence agreements in student-specific accommodation, provided by public educational institutions and private accommodation providers.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 legally tightened the exemptions from rent controls in RPZs. The rent controls operate within and across tenancies. Since 2019, an exemption applies to the first rent setting only in respect of a tenancy of a dwelling where:
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling during the two years immediately prior to this current tenancy beginning;
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling where the dwelling is a protected structure, or is in a protected structure or is a proposed protected structure during the 12 months immediately prior to the current tenancy beginning (a protected structure is defined in the Planning and Development Act 2000); or
• there has been a substantial change in the nature of rental accommodation.
Part 7A of the Residential Tenancies Acts empowers the RTB to investigate improper conduct by landlords and to impose sanctions, if warranted. Significantly, the investigation can be initiated by the RTB without a complaint having to be made. The RTB's Investigations and Sanctions Unit can start an investigation either as a result of information received from members of the public or on foot of information gathered from records that the RTB has access to under the Residential Tenancies Acts. That unit investigates certain potential breaches of rental law by a landlord referred to as ‘improper conduct’ under Schedule 2 to the Acts, including the contravention of the rent increase restrictions in RPZs and exemptions thereto and the seeking of payments in contravention of section 19B of the Acts.
In addition, planning permission may be required when there is a change of use to a property. The Planning and Development Acts labels works or change of use as “development”. Development requires a grant of planning permission unless it is exempt under the Acts. For further information, Sligo County Council Planning Division can be contacted at [planning@sligococo.ie].
