STUDENTS RENTING FROM private accommodation provider Yugo are being given incorrect information about new lease legislation following the banning of 51-week contracts last month.

In July, the Government introduced emergency legislation to ban 51-week leases after it emerged that some accommodation providers, including Yugo, were forcing students to rent rooms outside of the academic term.

This practice meant that on average students were being made to pay over €3,000 more per year to keep their rooms during the summer months when they do not need them.

The government fast-tracked legislation to ban this practice and introduced the Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Act last month to ensure that leases will be based on a 41-week academic year instead of 51 weeks.

The law came into effect on July 20, but it is not retrospective, meaning that students who signed leases before the legislation came into effect are not able to benefit from it.

The Journal has learned that Yugo has since been giving tenants incorrect information about the law change. 

In two incidents, when tenants requested to switch to a 41-week lease for the upcoming academic year Yugo informed them that 41-week leases are only available for specific (more expensive) rooms. 

In emails seen by The Journal, the tenants were told by Yugo staff that they had been informed that only certain rooms can be booked for 41-week leases. In one instance, a staff member said, incorrectly, that this was because “the law states” that providers must offer at least two options for 41 weeks. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Further and Higher Education said: “The Act does not stipulate how many options a provider may offer within a 41-week tenancy type.”

A senior Government source described this behaviour as “malicious and confusing for students” and contrary to the legislation.

“The legislation is clear, and it was signed into law on the 19th of July. Leases since that date are subject to the legislation – and if people see evidence of abuse of this law, they would be well within their rights to report it to the RTB,” the source added.

When contacted by The Journal about the information given to students, a spokesperson for Yugo said: “We can confirm that in Ireland all our room types are available for 41 weeks and longer for the academic year 2024/2025, as shown on our website.”

When asked why they were telling tenants otherwise, the spokesperson said: “We’ve no further comment on this one”.