Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 September 2009
988 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of private rental accommodations inspected by each local authority each year over the past five years in a tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30438/09]
View answer989 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount the Private Residential Tenancies Board has paid out to each local authority for the past five years for inspections out of the fund it holds for same in a tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30439/09]
View answer990 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount each local authority has claimed for carrying out inspections of private rented accommodation each year for the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30440/09]
View answer992 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the number of private rented accommodations being inspected by local authorities each year has reached the targets projected by him when the system was introduced; if not, the actual number of targets reached; if the system is working; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30442/09]
View answer993 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether the Private Residential Tenancies Board or an other independent body should have a role in carrying out inspections of private rented accommodation; the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30443/09]
View answer994 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether the fund currently held by the Private Residential Tenancies Board to pay local authorities for carrying out inspections of private rented accommodation should be paid in advance to local authorities to increase the number of premises inspected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30444/09]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 988 to 990, inclusive, and 992 to 994, inclusive, together.
Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Responsibility for enforcing the regulations rests with the relevant local authority, supported by a dedicated stream of funding allocated by my Department. This funding increased significantly between 2005 and 2008, rising from €1.5m to €4m. The latter figure is being maintained in 2009, bringing total funding allocations since 2004 to €15m. Details of the amounts paid to each local authority in respect of the years 2004 — 08 and of the first funding tranche for 2009 are available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie and in the Oireachtas Library. The funding is allocated to local authorities on the basis of a formula which takes into account inspection targets for the particular year and actual inspections carried out. The methodology for the payment of funding for 2010 is kept under review by my Department.
In general, local authorities have significantly expanded their inspection activity in recent years with the number of inspections more than doubling — from 6,815 to 17,202 — in the period 2005 to 2008. More detailed information on the number of inspections carried out each year up to and including 2008 is included in my Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are also available on my Department's website. The 2008 data, published in August 2009, indicate a further year on year increase in activity of approximately 23%, with over 17,200 inspections completed in 2008. This further significant increase reflects the positive impact of the overall Action Programme on Standards, including increased funding, introduced on foot of a commitment in the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement, and the ongoing progress with the implementation of the Rental Accommodation Scheme.
It is a matter for each individual local authority to decide on the specific details of its inspection arrangements. However, in discharging their responsibilities in relation to the private rented sector, my Department encourages authorities to have regard to the report — Good Practice Guidelines for Local Authorities on Standards in the Private Rented Sector: Strategic Planning, Effective Enforcement — published by the Centre for Housing Research in November 2007, which makes a range of recommendations on matters relevant to inspection procedures such as identifying and targeting inspection requirements.
The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body in September 2004 and has its principal functions in the areas of: The registration of private rental tenancies; The resolution of disputes between tenants and landlords; The provision of information, assistance and advice to the Minister on the private rental sector.
While the PRTB deals with disputes between landlords and tenants, including issues relating to standards, unlike local authorities it does not have local inspection staff. Local authorities, with local inspection staff who carry out a wide range of functions in relation to housing generally, are best placed to undertake the enforcement of the minimum standards regulations for rented houses. It would be neither practical nor economical to centralise this role in the PRTB or another independent body.
991 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of landlords, tenants and tenancies registered and recorded by the Private Residential Tenancies Board for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30441/09]
View answerThe Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body in September 2004 and its principal functions are in the areas of: The registration of private rental tenancies; The resolution of disputes between tenants and landlords; The provision of information, assistance and advice to the Minister on the private rental sector.
The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (RTA) requires the registration of most residential tenancies and more than 200,000 active tenancies are currently registered with the PRTB. This compares favourably with the situation prior to the establishment of the PRTB when no more than 30,000 tenancies were registered with the local authorities.
The PRTB compiles its tenancy data on a rolling, aggregate basis as valid tenancy registration forms are submitted to it. It should be noted in this regard that more than one tenancy may be registered in respect of a rented accommodation unit in any year. Furthermore the Act provides for a four year tenancy cycle and the re-registration of the tenancy at the end of each cycle.
I understand that at 30 June 2009 the PRTB had 219,453 active tenancies on its register, representing 376,631 tenants and 108,319 landlords. End of year figures for the preceding four years, as per the PRTB's Annual Reports, are set out hereunder in tabular form. The 2008 Annual Report is due to be published shortly.
|
Year |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
Number of landlords |
53,070 |
83,102 |
92,311 |
100,819 |
|
Number of tenancy registrations |
83,983 |
137,961 |
202,078 |
206,054 |
|
Number of tenants registered |
150,518 |
246,587 |
340,223 |
354,065 |
* includes registrations from the Board's establishment in late 2004.
995 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason he changed the breakdown of the registration fee the Private Residential Tenancies Board receives from the landlord so the amount for the PRTB’s running costs has been increased and the amount set aside for inspections has been reduced; if his allocation of funds to the PRTB reduced as a result of this change; the amount of same; if this reduction was part of his attempts to rebalance his budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30445/09]
View answerSection 176 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (RTA) provides that the fees received by the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) under section 137 of the Act are paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister may direct. Section 138 of the Act allows the Board to vary such fees in line with changes in the value of money; to date, no such variations have been made.
By Ministerial Direction of 24 February 2005, two-sevenths of fees received by the PRTB under section 137 of the Act were retained by the PRTB to defray administration costs, and the balance was to be transferred to local authorities for the purpose of the performance of their functions under the Housing Acts in relation to private rented accommodation e.g. rental standards inspections and rent book regulations.
The fee income received by the PRTB over the past 4 years has remained relatively constant and it is currently in the order of €7.8m per annum. The payment to the local authorities of the monies allocated to them from the fee income stream is dependent on the levels of inspection performance by the authorities. Those levels have increased significantly in recent years and funding for inspections more than doubled between 2005 and 2008, rising from €1.5m to €4m. This level of funding will be maintained in 2009, bringing funding allocations for this purpose since 2004 to €15m.
While local authorities' inspections performance has improved year on year, and the monies allocated to that end have also increased, a reserve of unused funds held by the PRTB in a fiduciary capacity for the local authorities has accumulated since 2004 and now stands at approximately €10m. In line with a policy of moving the PRTB towards self-sufficiency, the annual grant from my Department to the PRTB has been reduced over a number of years from €5.7 million in 2007 to €3.8 million in 2008 and to €1 million in 2009.
In light of the above-mentioned accumulated fund, and to facilitate increased financial self-sufficiency, I made a Ministerial Direction on 26 March 2009 providing that, four-sevenths of fees received by the PRTB under section 137 of the Act be retained to defray the administrative expenses of the Board. I directed that three-sevenths be transferred to local authorities for the purpose of the performance of their functions under the Housing Acts.
This restructured arrangement, taking account of the accumulated fund, provides a strong platform from which to fund more onerous inspection activities in light of the new Rented Accommodation Standards Regulations which I introduced on 1 February 2009, and also increases the PRTB's financial self-sufficiency. My Department will continue to monitor this funding situation closely.
