Eleven years after it was established, the Private Residential Tenancies Board has launched its first rental rights cross-media information campaign.

After a public tender, Javelin won the contract for the €300,000 press, outdoor and online campaign, which is timed for two short bursts, June and August. The latter will coincide with the annual influx of students into the rental market. The online ads will also be translated into Polish, Lithuanian, Cantonese, Somali, Portuguese and French.

Up until now, Threshold, the not-for-profit housing agency, has been doing all the heavy lifting when it comes to telling renters their rights, with Citizens Information offices being another direct source.

This campaign, which focuses solely on renters’ rights and landlord obligations with simple direct messages (eg “My landlord wants to raise the rent twice this year. Can he do that?”) signals a new public image for the low-profile PRTB. The agency is better known for its primary purpose as as a dispute resolution body and the national tenancy registration system.

The new campaign sprung from a survey conducted by Red C for the PRTB in October 2014. It found that one-third of tenants (36 per cent) were not fully aware of their rights and that many landlords are small- scale operators; 65 per cent own just one property and 84 per cent own two or less.

There are currently 303,574 tenancies registered with the PRTB.

According to the 2011 census (though it surely has increased since then), one in five, or 20 per cent of households, are now living in the private rented sector.