Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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396. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will consider introducing an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act to allow for the initial date of occupation of an approved housing body tenancy to be considered the start date for the new Part 4 tenancy when that tenancy is brought under the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act as amended in 2014; and if not, the reasons therefor. [10274/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 amended section 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 so that dwellings let by approved housing bodies (AHBs) to social housing tenants now come within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. This means that the same rights and obligations that are afforded to landlords and tenants in the private rented sector are now afforded to those in the Approved Housing Body Sector.

The position of AHB tenants is significantly improved by the change, which commenced on 7 April 2016, as they now benefit from the following:

- Increased security of tenure;

- Access to Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) dispute resolution procedures, including free mediation;

- Binding obligations on AHBs as landlords to, inter alia,register all tenancies, keep dwellings in good repair and allow peaceful occupation.

Security of tenure under the 2004 Act is provided for in Part 4 of the Act and is based on rolling four-year tenancy cycles. Where a tenant has been in occupation of a dwelling for a continuous period of 6 months, and no notice of termination has been served in respect of that tenancy before the expiry of the period of 6 months, the tenancy continues in being for a period of 4 years from either the commencement of the tenancy or the relevant date, whichever is the later.

For existing AHB tenancies that came under the Act in 2016, the relevant date was 7 April 2016. This mirrors how the Act was applied to existing private rental tenancies in 2004. Therefore, all existing AHB tenancies acquired the right to Part 4 tenancies in October 2016 unless a valid notice of termination was served in respect of that tenancy before the expiry of the period of 6 months from 7 April 2016. Where a tenant enjoys for the time being, by reason of the tenancy concerned, rights that are more beneficial for the tenant than those created by Part 4 of the Act, the application of the Act to AHB tenancies does not operate to derogate from those rights.

It is not possible to introduce legislation that operates in a way that is retrospective and therefore I have no plans to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts to allow for the date of occupation of an AHB tenancy to be considered the start date for a new Part 4 tenancy.