Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982

Entitlement of tenants to retain possession.

9.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person (in this section referred to as the original tenant) who, immediately before the commencement of this Act, was a tenant of a dwelling to which section 8 (1) relates (not being a dwelling referred to in section 8 (2)) shall be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the lifetime of that person.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person being the spouse of the original tenant shall, upon the death of that tenant, if bona fide residing in the dwelling at the time of his death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the lifetime of the spouse.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a person being a member of the family of the original tenant shall—

(a) if that tenant dies within the relevant period, upon the death of that tenant, or

(b) where the spouse of that tenant has become the tenant by virtue of subsection (2) and dies within the relevant period, upon the death of the spouse,

if bona fide residing in the dwelling at such death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the period beginning on the date of such death and ending on the expiration of the relevant period.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Part, where a member of the family of the original tenant becomes, by virtue of subsection (3) or this subsection, the tenant of the dwelling concerned and dies within the relevant period, a person being another member of that family shall, upon such death, if bona fide residing in the dwelling at such death, be entitled to retain possession as the tenant of the dwelling and that entitlement shall subsist during the period beginning on the date of such death and ending on the expiration of the relevant period.

(5) Where, in the circumstances described in subsection (3) or (4), more than one member of the original tenant's family was at the time of the relevant death bona fide residing in the dwelling, such one member of the family as may be agreed upon between them or, in default of agreement, as may be selected by the Court shall, subject to the provisions of this Part, be the person entitled to retain possession of the dwelling under this section.

(6) Notwithstanding subsections (3) and (4), where less than five years of the relevant period remain unexpired on the date that a member of the family of the original tenant becomes the tenant of a dwelling under this section, the entitlement of that member to retain possession of the dwelling shall subsist during the period beginning on that date and ending on the expiration of five years.

(7) In this section “relevant period” means the period of twenty years beginning on the commencement of this Act.

(8) Entitlement under this section to retain possession of a dwelling shall cease to subsist where possession of the dwelling is recovered by the landlord.