How to exit Rent a room scheme to full rental

5park

Registered User
Messages
2
I have rented a couple of rooms in my principal private residence for many years to the same two individual people, under the rent a room scheme.

Recently a relative has passed on and has left me his house in the same town. The administration/probate of the will is currently ongoing.
I have, for all intents and purposes, moved into the house that I have been willed already. (for security and with the solicitors permission, there were a couple of attempted break ins)

When the administration is complete and I am the registered owner I will move back to my "first" house and get a builder in to extend and renovate the inherited house. When this work is finished(six months) I will move into the inherited house permanently.

Currently I am still availing of the rent a room scheme even though I am not sleeping in my main residence. I am however paying a third of elec and oil bills and all the refuse and tv bills.
Question: Am I in trouble with revenue?

Secondly, when all is done and I am living in my newly renovated house I would like to leave my existing two rent a room scheme tenants in my first house. They're old friends now,they keep the house better than I do and I am happy to leave them there for a few years until house prices recover. Their rent payments would be probably half of the likely market rent.
Question: What do I need to do to make these arrangements legal and in compliance with any revenue regulations.
Are there any possible pitfalls to my proposal?
I'm no very comfortable with the idea of being a professional landlord.

Thanking you and apologising for the log windedness of my story!
 
Your "rent a roomers" are licensees or lodgers. In order to keep these licensees and not as tenants (and therefore qualify under the RTA 2004 to have all the rights set out therein) you need to retain your free access to the house and all the property as before to ensure that the occupiers do not have exclusive use to the house.

Therefore, as you will not have tenants in the house, there will be no registration or PRTB issues.

As regards Revenue, I see no issue as long as you continue as above, but I am not an expert in such issues so will have to wait for someone else to comment.
 
This link should answer most of your questions: [broken link removed]

In relation to where you live it states:
The room or rooms must be in a residential premises that is situated in the State and that is occupied by an individual as his/her sole or main residence during the particular tax year. An individual may live in more than one residence but can only avail of rent-a-room relief in respect of his/her sole or main residence. In general, an individual’s sole or main residence is that individual’s home for the greater part of the time and where friends and correspondents would expect to find him/her. The individual does not have to own the residence and it could, for example, be occupied as rented accommodation.
 
Back
Top