I have had a few queries from small landlords about using a licence arrangement to circumvent the residential tenancies board’s involvement in the arrangement they have with their tenants/licensees.
They have heard from others who give their tenants licence agreements rather than tenancy agreements and licence/rent out rooms to these occupants.
The enquiry to me is this legal, permissible?
The circumstances where a licence agreement would be appropriate are extremely limited and primarily involve the situation where a property owner lives in the property with the licensees.
Other arrangements involving limited companies and licence agreements are unlikely to stand up, if challenged by the tenant.
And there is provision in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2004 at section 50 for the occupant of a dwelling to allow the landlord to allow him become a tenant, even if he is described in a licence agreement as a licensee.
Learn more about residential letting law in Ireland here.