Section 81 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 – Tenancies and subtenancies: referral of disputes concerning their termination

Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (RTA 2004) · PART 6 – Dispute Resolution › Chapter 1 – Referral of matters to Board for resolution

Revised Act prepared by the Law Reform Commission, updated to 1 March 2026. Amendments made after that date are not included.

(1)The purpose of this section is to—

(a) limit, in certain circumstances, the right of referral to the Board by a sub-tenant of a dispute concerning the termination of the tenancy out of which his or her sub-tenancy arises, and

(b) require the tenant of such a tenancy (in addition to employing the procedures under Chapter 4 of Part 5) to make a certain inquiry of the sub-tenant before the tenant may himself or herself refer to the Board for resolution a dispute concerning the termination of that tenancy.

(2)If a landlord, in serving a notice of termination on a tenant in respect of a tenancy, requires the tenant to terminate any sub-tenancy arising out of the tenancy, the tenant shall, if the tenant intends to refer to the Board for resolution a dispute concerning the termination of the tenancy, require the sub-tenant to inform him or her, within 10 days from receipt of the notice mentioned in subsection (3), whether or not the sub-tenant intends to refer to the Board for resolution any dispute that the sub-tenant considers thereby arises or exists in the circumstances relating to the termination of the tenancy.

(3)That requirement shall be stated in the notice of termination required by the landlord to be served by the head-tenant on the sub-tenant.

(4)If a sub-tenant does not comply with the requirement mentioned in subsection (2) within the period specified in that subsection then the sub-tenant may not refer to the Board for resolution any dispute concerning the termination of the tenancy concerned.

(5)If the tenant—

(a) does not comply with the second-mentioned requirement in subsection (2), then the tenant may not refer to the Board for resolution any dispute concerning the termination of the tenancy concerned, or

(b) does comply with that requirement, the tenant may not refer to the Board for resolution such a dispute until 15 days elapse from the date of service of the notice concerned mentioned in subsection (3).

Official source: revisedacts.lawreform.ie · Version: 2026-03-01 · Full text · Contents

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