Under the Landlord Registration Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 all private Landlords must register. Registration will last for a period of 3 years at the end of which there is a requirement to re-register.
A Landlord must disclose their entire privately rented property portfolio at time of registration.
Offences will be dealt with through the service of a Fixed Penalty Notice or Legal Proceedings may be instigated by the Council against a Landlord. On prosecution a Landlord committed of offence 1 or 2 above may be liable to a fine of £2,500 and for offence 3 a fine of £500.
To ensure the ‘Register’ is up to date, a Landlord or agent should update their details after registration. There is no fee charged for making amendments to the Register.
You can register on your Landlord’s behalf and enter their details onto the system but it is ultimately the responsibility of Landlords, not agents, to ensure that they are registered.
A person found guilty of either of these offences can be issued with a Fixed Penalty of up to £500 or if taken to Court can be fined up to £2,500.
Members of the public will be able to see if a Landlord is registered by entering his or her name.