If you rent property from the Housing Executive, a housing association or a private landlord, you and your landlord have certain rights and responsibilities.

If you have any doubt about your rights, get specialist advice from Housing Rights Service.

• Your rights from the law
• Your contract with your landlord
• Your rights
• Your responsibilities
• Ending the tenancy

Your rights from the law

The law gives you certain rights depending on the kind of tenancy you have. For example, people renting from a private landlord have different rights to people renting from the Housing Executive or a housing association. If you live with your landlord or share with other people you will have different rights again.

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Your contract with your landlord

You may have agreed extra rights with your landlord in either a written or verbal tenancy agreement. These can only add to the basic rights you have that come from the law. No matter what your tenancy agreement says, your landlord can't take away your basic legal rights.

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Your rights

Although your rights can vary depending on the sort of tenancy you have and the agreement you have with your landlord, there are several main areas where you have rights.

Living in your accommodation

Tenants have the right to live in their accommodation and stop other people from entering without permission. This means you have the right to:

• prevent other people from entering your home;
• live without interference by other people.

Landlords are not entitled to enter your home without giving you notice. However, they are entitled to have access to the property if they have good reason for this, for example if they need to carry out repairs or show new tenants around.

Your landlord must give you reasonable notice before they do this. Your tenancy agreement might state the amount of notice your landlord has to give - usually it's at least 24' hours. If your landlord doesn't, he may be harassing you.

Right to repairs

All landlords have a responsibility to keep the structure and outside of the accommodation in good condition and free from disrepair so that your home is wind and watertight. Landlords must also keep the equipment for the supply of water, gas and electricity in good repair.

If furniture or equipment breaks or wears out, your landlord may have to replace it. This depends on the reason it needs to be replaced and what it says in your tenancy agreement.

Remember, any agreement you have with your landlord over repairs can only add to your landlord's responsibilities, not take them away.

If you don't have a tenancy agreement or where there is no clear indication of repairing responsibilities in your agreement, default repairing obligations may apply to the landlord and the tenant.

Safety

Landlords must have a valid gas safety record for each appliance in a property. Only a gas engineer who is registered on the Gas Safe Register is qualified to inspect gas appliances and issues gas safety records. The landlord must keep a record of the safety checks and provide a copy to any new tenant before moving in, and to each sitting tenant within 28 days of each annual check. The landlord is not responsible for maintaining gas appliances which the tenant owns.

Furniture provided by the landlord should be fire resistant.

If you live in a house or flat with at least two other people who aren't members of your family (a house in multiple occupation or HMO), your landlord may have extra obligations.

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Your responsibilities

Although your responsibilities can vary depending on the sort of tenancy you have and the agreement you have with your landlord, there are several main areas where you have responsibilities.

Paying rent

All tenants have to pay rent to their landlord. Rent is usually paid weekly or monthly in advance. You are entitled to a rent book.

Landlords have to accept rent from tenants. If your landlord refuses to accept rent, put the money aside (for example, pay it into a separate bank account) and keep records of your attempts to pay it. The rent can usually be increased if landlords follow specific procedures, which vary depending on the type of tenancy you have.

Taking good care of the property

It's up to you to keep the property in good condition. This includes:

• keeping your home reasonably clean;
• keeping the furniture in good condition;
• looking after the property by not causing any damage;
• carrying out minor maintenance (for example, checking smoke alarm batteries and changing light bulbs);
• reporting any problems to your landlord for repair;
• keeping communal areas clean and tidy
• asking for your landlord's permission before making any alterations to the property;
• making good damage to the property caused by you, a member of the household or a lawful visitor.

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Ending the tenancy

Both landlords and tenants have to give the correct notice to end a tenancy. Your landlord can't throw you out on the street overnight, just as you can't walk away if you don't want to live there any more. The length of the notice depends on the type of tenancy you have.

Landlords usually have to get a court order to evict you. The Housing Executive, housing associations and private landlords need a reason before they can force a tenant to leave. For example, rent arrears or antisocial behaviour.

Housing Executive and housing association tenants can usually pass their tenancy on to someone else. Most private tenants are only allowed to pass their tenancy on to someone else in very specific circumstances. You usually need your landlord's agreement to do so.

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