THE MINISTER FOR Housing has been urged to carry out an audit to find out how prevalent licence agreements are in the country’s rental market.

It comes after The Journal reported that a former office on Dublin’s Clare Street has been converted into a residential property, with up to 22 bed spaces available to let for up to €890 each per month.

It’s understood that the residents are offered licences rather than tenancies.

These are commonly used in rent-a-room schemes, when someone rents out a room in an owner-occupied house or stays with a tenant in existing rented accommodation. 

Under this arrangement, the homeowner is not lawfully required to register as a landlord, and licencees are not protected by the Residential Tenancies Acts. 

Determining whether an arrangement should be a tenancy or a licence is often only possible if a formal dispute arises.

The Journal viewed dozens of ads for shared rooms across rental sites and social media, with male and female ‘bed spaces’ widely advertised across Dublin.

Analysis of 20 ads on Daft.ie for bed spaces in double or triple rooms showed an average of €620 per bed space. Bunk beds were the cheapest, while some single beds placed in living rooms were advertised for over €800.

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin called The Journal‘s findings “utterly grim”.

“Greed and govt (sic) failure is forcing people back into tenement living,” he wrote on X. 

In a statement, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the “increased prevalence” of multi-person room share arrangements operating under licence agreements “risks dragging the country back to the dark days of the tenements”. 

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

“With many people entering into licence arrangements instead of formal tenancy agreements, this is putting them outside the scope of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and denying them the normal protections afforded to renters,” Hearne said.

“This makes it difficult to immediately recognise whether an arrangement should be a tenancy or a licence as this is often only possible to determine when a formal dispute arises before the RTB or the courts.”

He said commercial operators should not be allowed to operate similarly to homeowners availing of the Rent-a-Room Relief scheme “but that’s exactly what appears to be happening”.

He added: “The Minister for Housing needs to carry out an urgent audit to determine if property owners are entering into licence agreements to circumvent rent regulations – and how many such arrangements are in place around the country.”

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Last October, a report by housing charity Threshold into licence agreements called for clearer regulations that safeguard licensees.

Citing 2022 Census data, the charity said there could be as many as 50,000 households in such informal licensee agreements.

“While specific licensee issues are not new, their significance is increasing due to what appears to be more evidence of informal rental arrangements,” Threshold national advocacy manager Ann-Marie O’Reilly said.

“This highlights the need for legislative reform and expanded legal protections for licensees within the private rental sector.”

Among its recommendations, the report called for the establishment of a central residential licence registry and for “clear identifying characteristics” to be provided to aid RTB decision-makers in distinguishing between tenancy and licensee arrangements.

With reporting from Eimer McAuley