Cost Rental housing was introduced in 2021 as a new form of housing tenure in Ireland, where the tenant pays a rent which is set to cover the cost of delivering, managing, and maintaining the home. It is targeted at people on moderate incomes who do not qualify for social housing but who may be facing affordability pressures in the private rental market. Cost Rental tenancies also offer long-term security of tenure.
The management of tenancies in designated Cost Rental homes is the responsibility of the landlord, which in this case would be South Dublin County Council. Part 3 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 does not require that Cost Rental homes are managed directly by a Local Authority or any other landlord. It is within the discretion of South Dublin County Council as a Cost Rental landlord to employ a third party agent such as OCCU to manage the Cost Rental properties on their behalf, just as a Local Authority may engage contractors for a range of its activities. The procurement and tendering of any such arrangement is the responsibility of the Local Authority in question. In any case where a management agency is used, the Local Authority remains the landlord of the Cost Rental properties and ultimately bears the associated responsibilities.
As with the use of an agent in the wider rental sector, the agent managing Cost Rental homes on behalf of a Local Authority must be registered with and subject to the jurisdiction of the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA), which may receive complaints about the conduct of regulated agents delivering property management services. All Cost Rental tenancies, whether or not managed by a property management agency, are also subject to the jurisdiction of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Finally, South Dublin County Council, regardless of its use of an agent to manage any homes, is within the remit of the Office of the Ombudsman.
