When employees are renting from an employer

This is called a service tenancy – it is where an employer provides an employee with a property to live in during their period of employment. Service tenancies are fully covered by the Residential Tenancies Act, but have special rules covering rent paid in advance and notice to quit the tenancy. (We recommend you seek advice from Tenancy Services if you are contemplating a service tenancy.)

Notice periods

In a service tenancy the tenancy usually ends when the employment ends, and the employer has given two weeks’ notice to quit the house.

If an employer rents a property to a non-employee, that is usually used for housing an employee, and the Tenancy Agreement says the property may be needed for an employee on 42 days’ notice, then, when the property is needed for that purpose, 42 days’ notice can be given.

Rent payments

Where a landlord is also the tenant's employer and takes the rent out of the tenant’s pay, they can also take rent out of any holiday pay to cover the holiday period.