Renting a room in someone's home: the lodger's position

The rent-a-room scheme is a tax relief for the person who owns the home. It lets the owner receive up to €14,000 a year in rent from you without paying tax on it, rising to €16,000 from 1 January 2027 as announced in Budget 2027. For you, the person renting the room, it means one thing: you live in the owner's home, so you are a licensee and the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply.

That is the whole of the lodger's position under the Act, and this guide does not dress it up. No RTB, no Part 4 security, no notice periods from section 66, no deposit cap, no rent cap. What you have is the agreement you made, reasonable notice where it is silent, the Small Claims procedure for the deposit, and the rent tax credit, which you can claim without an RTB number.

What the scheme is, and what it is not

Rent-a-room relief is in the tax code, not the tenancy code. The owner claims it on their tax return by declaring the rent and staying under the threshold. Nothing about the relief creates a tenancy, requires a written agreement, or involves the RTB. The host-side questions, such as what counts towards the threshold or what happens to the relief if the owner moves out, are for Revenue's page and are not covered here.

The scheme is often used as a label for any room let in a family home. The legal position is the same whether or not the owner claims the relief. If the owner lives in the dwelling as their home, you are a licensee under section 3 of the Act. Licensees and lodgers is the chapter's full account of that position; this guide covers the parts specific to rent-a-room.

Your position, side by side with a tenant's

The notice that is reasonable

The agreement comes first. If you agreed a month each way, that is your notice. If you agreed a fixed term, such as the academic year, the arrangement ends on that date unless you both agree to extend it. Leaving early is a breach of contract that the owner may set against the deposit.

Where nothing was agreed, the law implies reasonable notice. There is no statutory figure, and no one can give you a number with certainty. The usual starting point is the rent period: a month where rent is monthly, a week where rent is weekly and the stay has been short. The longer you have lived there, the longer the period a court would expect. The same rule binds you when you want to leave.

An owner who gives you very short notice after a long stay has probably given less than reasonable notice, and you can say so in writing. What you cannot do is treat the house as yours past the notice. The owner's remedy if you stay is a court order, not the RTB; your remedy if the notice was unreasonable is a claim for the loss it caused. Threshold on 1800 454 454 advises on both sides of that line.

The deposit

A deposit in a shared home is not capped by the Act, though a month's rent is the norm and anything higher is worth questioning before you pay it. It is returned under the agreement, less whatever the agreement allows the owner to keep: usually unpaid rent, unpaid bills you owed, and damage beyond ordinary wear.

If it is not returned, write first, with a date and your bank details. Then the Small Claims procedure in the District Court, which expressly covers a deposit for a room in a premises where the owner also lives. The limit is €2,000, the fee is €25, and no solicitor is needed. The deposit tool is built for tenancies, but its checklist of evidence applies to you as well: the agreement, the payments, and photographs of the room when you arrived and when you left.

The rent tax credit

You can claim the credit for rent paid for a room in the owner's home. It 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. The claim does not ask for an RTB number because a licence cannot be registered. It is not available where the owner is your parent or your child, and you can go back four years. The rent tax credit guide covers the claim on myAccount.

HAP and the Equal Status Acts

The Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2015 bar refusing accommodation to someone because they receive housing assistance, including HAP, and a complaint goes to the Workplace Relations Commission. The Acts also carry an exception for a small premises in which the provider or a close relative lives. That exception is aimed at exactly the arrangement this guide describes, so the housing assistance ground should not be relied on against an owner letting a room in their own home.

There is a practical point too. HAP has its own conditions on the landlord's side, and a licence in the owner's home cannot be registered with the RTB. Ask the local authority's HAP office whether a room in a shared home can be covered before you agree to take it. HAP in 2026 explains the payment, and social housing support and the HAP rule covers the Equal Status ground as it applies to ordinary lettings.

A self-contained unit is different

The rent-a-room relief also covers a self-contained unit attached to the owner's home, such as a converted garage or a basement flat with its own door. The tax position is the same for the owner, but your position is not. A self-contained unit is a separate dwelling, and the Act applies to it, which makes you a tenant with the usual rights.

Section 25 of the Act lets the landlord of such a unit opt out of Part 4 security, but only in writing and only before the tenancy begins. If you took a self-contained unit beside the owner's home and signed nothing of the kind, you have Part 4 rights after six months. The tenancy should be registered, the deposit is capped, and the rent rules apply. If the owner calls it rent-a-room and treats you as a licensee, the RTB can decide which it is.

What to agree before you move in

• The rent, the day it is due, and what it includes: bills, heating, internet, food, laundry.
• The deposit and the grounds on which any of it can be kept.
• The notice each side gives, in days or weeks, and any fixed term.
• Which room is yours, which rooms are shared, and the rules on guests and overnight visitors.
• Who else lives there, and what happens if the owner's circumstances change.
• A dated inventory of the room, with photographs.

An email that sets these out and a reply that says "agreed" is a contract. Keep it with your payment records in your tenancy file.

Where this leaves you

Rent-a-room is the owner's tax relief, and it leaves you a licensee in the owner's home with nothing from the Residential Tenancies Act. Your rights are the agreement, reasonable notice, the deposit as a contract debt with Small Claims behind it, and the rent tax credit without an RTB number. Agree the rent, the notice and the deposit terms in writing before you pay anything, and keep every payment record. A self-contained unit beside the home is a tenancy, not a licence, and the RTB can say so. Threshold on 1800 454 454 advises licensees, and the rent tax credit calculator shows what your room is worth back to you.