Digs: what you are agreeing to

Digs are a room in a family home, usually during term, often Monday to Friday, sometimes with meals. The owner lives there, so you are a licensee and the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply. There is no RTB, no Part 4 security, no deposit cap and no notice period written in law. What you are agreeing to is a contract with the host, and the contract is only as good as what you put in it.

That is not a reason to avoid digs. For a first-year student, or a student from abroad, a room in a family home is often cheaper and safer than the alternatives, and the rent tax credit is still there for whoever pays. It is a reason to agree the terms in writing before any money changes hands. The rent tax credit calculator shows what the credit is worth on the rent you will pay.

Digs are a licence, not a tenancy

Section 3 of the Act excludes a dwelling in which the landlord also resides. A host who lives in the house as their home, and lets you a room in it, is outside the Act whatever the arrangement is called. The same is true of a host who is away for part of the week but keeps the house as their home.

The consequences are set out in full in licensees and lodgers, the lead guide for this chapter. In short: the host does not register anything with the RTB, and the RTB cannot hear a dispute. The deposit is a contract debt rather than a capped sum, and notice is what you agreed or what is reasonable. If a host who said they lived there turns out to live somewhere else, you may be a tenant after all, and the RTB can decide that.

Digs are not student-specific accommodation. Purpose-built student housing run by a college or a provider is under the Act, with the 41-week rule, the deposit cap and the rent cap; student accommodation covers it. The two are often listed side by side, and the difference in your rights is large.

What to agree in writing

A single page, or an email the host replies to with "agreed", is enough. Cover:

• The rent, the day it is due, and how it is paid.
• Whether the rent is for the week, the term or the month, and whether you pay for the weeks you are not there, such as reading weeks and the Christmas break.
• Whether the arrangement is Monday to Friday or seven days, and whether weekends cost extra.
• What is included: meals and which ones, heating, internet, laundry, use of the kitchen.
• The deposit, and the grounds on which any of it can be kept.
• The start date and the end date, usually the end of the academic year, and the notice each side gives before then.
• Which room is yours, which rooms are shared, and the house rules on guests, overnight visitors, noise and hours.
• Who else lives in the house.
• A dated note of the room's condition with photographs on your phone.

The weeks you are away are the most common argument. A host who holds the room through the Christmas break may fairly ask for a retainer; a host who charges full rent for weeks the agreement never mentioned has a weaker case. Settle it in September, in writing.

Notice, the deposit and the end of term

If the agreement runs to the end of the academic year, it ends then. Leaving before that is a breach of contract, and the host may set the lost rent against the deposit. Give as much notice as you can and ask the host to agree an earlier end date in writing. If no end date was agreed, the law implies reasonable notice on both sides: the rent period is the usual measure, so a month where you pay monthly.

The deposit comes back under the agreement, less unpaid rent and damage beyond ordinary wear. Ask for it in writing with a date and bank details when you leave. If it is not returned, the Small Claims procedure in the District Court covers a deposit for a room in a home where the owner lives. The limit is €2,000, the fee is €25, and no solicitor is needed. The deposit tool is written for tenancies, but its list of evidence is the same: the agreement, the payments and the photographs.

Keep paying what you agreed while any disagreement runs. Threshold on 1800 454 454 advises licensees as well as tenants, and the students' union welfare officer has usually seen the same problem before.

The rent tax credit

Rent paid for digs qualifies for the rent tax credit, and no RTB number is needed because digs cannot be registered. The credit is 20% of the rent, up to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a jointly assessed couple for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Budget 2027 announced €1,150 and €2,300 for 2027 and 2028, awaiting the Finance Act 2026.

A parent who pays for a child's digs can claim the credit on their own return. A student who pays their own rent and has tax to set it against can claim instead, but the same rent cannot be claimed twice. The credit is not available where the host is the student's parent or child. The rent tax credit guide walks through the claim on myAccount, and it can go back four years.

Ask the host at the start for their name and the address exactly as Revenue will want them, and keep a record of every payment. A bank transfer with a reference is the simplest proof.

The host's side, in one line

The host can receive up to €14,000 a year from you tax-free under the rent-a-room scheme, €16,000 from 1 January 2027 as announced in Budget 2027. That is Revenue's business and does not change your position. Renting a room in someone's home covers the scheme from your side.

Students from abroad and proof of address

Digs are the usual first home for a student arriving on a study permission, and the agreement does double duty as proof of address. Ask the host for a signed letter on the first day confirming your name, the address and the date you moved in, and keep the written agreement with it. An immigration registration, a bank account and a PPS number application all ask for an address, and a letter from the host with the agreement is what most of them accept. Renting on a work permit or as a new arrival sets out the documents in full and links the StampWise guide on proof of address.

Where this leaves you

Digs are a licence in the host's home, outside the Residential Tenancies Act and the RTB. What you have is the agreement, reasonable notice where it is silent, the deposit as a contract debt with Small Claims behind it, and the rent tax credit for whoever pays the rent. Agree the rent, the weeks, the meals, the deposit terms and the notice in writing before you move in, and keep every payment record. If the host does not actually live there, you may be a tenant, and the RTB can say so. Threshold on 1800 454 454 advises licensees, and the rent tax credit calculator is worth running before the year starts.