If you become, or stop being, the person liable for commercial rates on a property, you must tell the local authority in writing within ten working days. If you don't do it and have no reasonable excuse, you commit a criminal offence and can be fined up to €5,000. The rule has been in force since 1 January 2024. It applies to landlords as much as to tenants. For example, when a tenant leaves and the unit is empty, the landlord can become the liable person, and both sides may have a notice to send. You can send the notice yourself or have someone you have authorised in writing send it for you, such as your solicitor or agent.
Who is the "liable person" for rates?
The person or company liable for commercial rates is either:
- the occupier; or
- if the property is unoccupied, the person who is for the time being entitled to occupy it.
The Valuation Act 2001 defines an "occupier" as "every person in the immediate use or enjoyment of the property".
In practice, this usually means a business tenant in occupation is the liable person. A landlord usually becomes liable when the premises are empty, because the landlord is then the person entitled to occupy. The rates are split if the liable person changes during the year and the rates have not been paid. In that case the person who received the rates bill pays for the part of the year they were liable. The rest is charged to the incoming liable person, in proportion to their part of the year.
What does the notice need to contain?
Under section 11 you must give written notice to the rating authority (the local council) if any of these happen:
- you cease to be a liable person for a property;
- you become a liable person for a property; or
- your status changes between being the occupier and being the person entitled to occupy an unoccupied property, in either direction.
The notice must state the date of the change and identify the property. If you are the person ceasing to be liable, you must also give the name and address of the new liable person, if you know them.
You must give the notice "not later than 10 working days after" the date of the change.
The Minister can make regulations setting out what information or documents must go with the notice.
When does a landlord have to notify?
Law Society current guidance (at the time of writing) contains the following non-exhaustive list of example triggers for notifying a local authority:-
| Transaction | Who must notify |
|---|---|
| Grant of an occupational lease (but not a renewal lease) | Landlord and tenant |
| Assignment of an occupational lease, or grant of a sub-lease | Tenant and assignee or sub-tenant |
| Forfeiture, lease expiry or surrender | Landlord and tenant |
| Sale of an owner-occupied or vacant premises | Seller and buyer |
| Sale of a partially let premises | Seller and buyer, for the unlet parts |
| Owner leaves a property vacant | Owner |
| Owner moves into a property | Owner |
Note that many transactions now need two notices, one from each side.
The surrender and lease expiry cases are the ones most likely to catch landlords out. The tenant hands back the keys and the unit is empty. The landlord is now the person entitled to occupy, so may be treated as the liable person.
What is the penalty?
If you break section 11 "without reasonable excuse", you are guilty of an offence. On summary conviction you can get a class A fine. A class A fine is a fine of up to €5,000 under the Fines Act 2010.
.
Are there other duties under the new rules?
Yes. Three other duties tend to come up in the same transactions.
Keeping the council's database correct. Each council keeps a Database of Relevant Properties. It records details such as the occupier's name, the name of the person entitled to occupy if the property is empty (if known), the address, and the type of business. If you are a liable person and you become aware that any of your details on it are wrong or out of date, you must notify the council in writing within 10 working days. Not doing so without reasonable excuse is also an offence carrying a class A fine.
Paying rates before a sale. A liable person who proposes to sell a property must pay the council the rates imposed under the 2019 Act, with interest, that they owe for the period up to and including the day before completion, and must do so before the sale completes. The council must confirm what is owed (or that nothing is owed) within 10 working days of a written request. Ask for this statement early. The rates must be paid to the council before completion, not afterwards out of the sale proceeds. Not paying before completion is an offence punishable by a class A fine, up to 6 months' imprisonment, or both.
Interest. Unpaid rates carry interest from 1 January of the year after the year they relate to. Unless a different rate is prescribed, the rate is 0.0219 per cent a day.
Can unpaid rates attach to the property?
Unpaid rates and interest owed by the owner as liable person are a charge on the property, with no time limit, until they are paid. The charge ends when the property is sold and that liable person stops being the owner. The Act defines "owner" as the person entitled to receive the rent, or who would be entitled to it if the property were let.
What if my property is empty?
A landlord with an empty unit is often the liable person. Councils can run schemes that reduce the rates on vacant properties. "Vacant" here means a property that is empty while additions, alterations or repairs are carried out, or because the liable person genuinely cannot find a suitable tenant at a reasonable rent. If your council has a scheme, you apply to it, and it must publish the details on its website. Becoming liable for an empty unit and applying for relief are separate steps. You still need to give the section 11 notice.
This article was prepared on 21 October 2026 and cites the statute book and the revised acts.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- Does the rule apply to companies?
- Yes. Under rates legislations a "person" includes bodies corporate. A company landlord or tenant has the same duty to notify.
- My tenant has left. Do I still need to notify if I re-let quickly?
- Yes.
- Does every property need a notice?
- The duty applies to "relevant property" as defined in the Valuation Act 2001. A property can be a relevant property even if it is not rated, so a notice may be needed in those cases too and a safe approach would be to notify the council for the avoidance of doubt.
- Who should send the notice on a sale or letting?
- The duty is on each person whose status changes, but someone they have authorised in writing can send the notice for them. Agree in advance who will send each notice, and keep proof that it was sent and when. If you are buying, selling or letting commercial property, your commercial property solicitor can include the rates notices in the closing steps.
