License Agreement (Real Estate) Template for Ireland

Yes. A property licence is a contract like any other and is enforceable under Irish common law once there is offer, acceptance, consideration and an intention to create legal relations. It does not create an interest in land, so it binds only the parties who signed it and does not automatically bind a purchaser of the property. Electronic signature is valid under the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 and the eIDAS Regulation, provided both parties consent to signing that way.

The decisive factor is exclusive possession: if the occupier can exclude the owner and everyone else from a defined space for a term at a rent, Irish courts will usually treat the arrangement as a tenancy no matter what the document is called, following the approach in Gatien Motor Company v Continental Oil Co of Ireland. A genuine licence gives permission to use space, typically with the owner retaining keys, access and the right to relocate the occupier. The permitted use, access and relocation clauses are what keep the agreement on the licence side of the line, and the day to day conduct of the parties must match them.

It should identify the parties and the property, describe precisely the area and the permitted use, state the licence fee and payment dates, set the duration and the notice period for termination, and confirm that no exclusive possession or interest in land is granted. Insurance, services, condition of the space, indemnities and the owner's rights of access should also be dealt with expressly. Vague drafting on access and exclusivity is the single biggest risk, because it is what turns a licence into a tenancy with statutory protections attached.

No. Genuine licences fall outside the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, so there is no RTB registration and no access to RTB dispute resolution, and disputes go to the ordinary courts instead. Licences are not registrable in the Land Registry or Registry of Deeds maintained by Tailte Éireann because they create no legal estate. If the arrangement is in substance a residential tenancy, the failure to register with the RTB becomes an offence, which is why the exclusivity and access clauses matter.

Renewal rights under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1980 accrue to tenants in business occupation, generally after five years of continuous occupation, not to true licensees. The risk is that a long running licence is later characterised as a tenancy, which can trigger that entitlement. Where a business occupier is involved, a written renunciation of the right to a new tenancy, permitted since the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, is commonly included as a protective clause alongside a term of under five years.

Once the licence is validly terminated in accordance with its notice clause, the occupier becomes a trespasser and the owner can seek an injunction and possession order, plus mesne rates for the period of overholding. Self help removal is risky and can expose the owner to claims, so the termination clause should set out clear notice periods and the method of service. If the occupier argues the arrangement was really a tenancy, court proceedings will examine exclusive possession and how the parties actually behaved.

A pure licence is not a conveyance or lease, so it generally falls outside the charging provisions of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, but Revenue can look at substance and stamp a document that in reality operates as a lease. For VAT, a licence to occupy is treated as an exempt letting under the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 unless the owner exercises the landlord's option to tax. The fee clause should state clearly whether the licence fee is inclusive or exclusive of VAT to avoid a dispute later.