Renting in Northern Ireland: a different law

Nothing on TenantWise applies in Northern Ireland. Private renting there is governed by the Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 as amended by the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, not by the Residential Tenancies Acts, and the Residential Tenancies Board has no role.

The main differences

• Deposits must be protected in an approved tenancy deposit scheme within 28 days, and the landlord must give you the scheme’s details. In the Republic, deposits are held by the landlord.
• Notice to quit periods are set by the 2022 Act by length of tenancy, and are different from the Republic’s table.
• There is no RTB. Disputes about deposits go to the scheme’s dispute service; other disputes go to the county court. Councils enforce the fitness standards.
• There is no national rent cap of the Republic’s kind, and no equivalent of HAP or the rent tax credit; Housing Benefit and Universal Credit apply instead.

Where to go

Housing Rights is the independent advice service for Northern Ireland: housingrights.org.uk. The Housing Executive and the Department for Communities publish the official guidance.

If you are not sure which jurisdiction your tenancy is in, it is the one the dwelling is in. TenantWise covers the Republic of Ireland only.