I have downloaded the RR1 form "Application for Registration of Fair Rent" and will attend to filing an application in due course. While searching through old documents I have come accross a photocopy of a letter which my old LL gave me to take to the Department of Social Security (DSS) as I was unemployed in 1996 and my rent was being paid for by the DSS. The letter is written on headed paper and signed by the LL. There is no explicit date on the letter pertaining to when the letter was written. In the letter my LL states that I have been "... in residence with us for 10 years now at rent per week at ... As from 1st January 1997 his rent has been increased to ... to allow for higher inflation costs etc." Is this document and it's contents a game changer?

Thank you 45002, I have no proof whatsoever that I have been paying rent before 15/01/1989. Old rent books and any other documentation that could show that I were paying rent at this or any other address before 15/01/1989 are not available. The property has never been registered for a fair rent, so it doesn't show on the rent register search. All I have is post mark dated documents with my name and address which spans from 1988 to the present at the same address. The electoral register does confirm my address at the times I did register on the electoral roll but it doesn't confirm my address from any where near 1988. The property has had several changes in LL over the years and there has never been any written tenancy agreement. My tenancy has simply rolled on week by week without any formal documented contract.

The new landlord of the property where I live is seeking eviction of all tenants in order to gain possession of the property. The other tenants have various types of tenancies such as Assured tenancies and AST type tenancies. The attempted eviction is served on us under section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act. The Assured and AST tenancies were introduced in the 1988 housing Act which came into force on January 15, 1989. Now, my tenancy began in 1988 and I don't have any official document to confirm my tenancy status. However I do have several post mark dated letters addressed to me in various times of 1988 and in further years up to the present time. On it's own would these post mark dated letters addressed to me be firm evidence of being resident at the property since 1988 and thereby not being subject to the section 21 notice for possession of the property?