Review of the Role and Regulation of the Private Rented Sector - Private Tenancies Bill - screening

This is a screening review following receipt of a complaint under Paragraph 10 of Schedule 9 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The proposals being taken forward in the Private Tenancies Bill are:

• restriction on rent increases;
• tenants to be given prescribed information relating to the tenancy;
• requirement for receipt to be provided where rent payment is made in cash;
• extension on the length of notice to quit to be provided by landlords;
• restriction on the amount of tenancy deposit that can be requested for a private tenancy;
• making some tenancy deposit offences continuing offences;
• increasing time limits for protecting a tenancy deposit from 14 days to 28 days and the time limit for providing information to the tenant from 28 days to 35 days;
• making it a legal requirement for private landlords to have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed in their rented properties and to carry out periodic electrical checks;
• provision to make regulations concerning the energy efficiency of dwelling houses let under a private tenancy.

Collectively these proposals will assist in addressing the aim of the review in making the PRS a safer and more secure housing option for a wider range of households including the most vulnerable in our society who, in part, due to limits on social housing provision, find themselves in this sector.