In September, 2006, my Department launched the programme, Action on Private Rented Accommodation Standards. Arising out of this programme, new regulations prescribing minimum standards for rented accommodation, the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, came into effect on 1 February 2009. The revised regulations were prepared following consultations with key stakeholders, including landlords' and tenants' representative organisations, and the four-year phasing-in period for certain aspects of the regulations applying to existing accommodation was specifically designed to afford landlords the time either adequately to meet the revised minimum standards or to remove unsuitable accommodation from the rental market. A Regulatory Impact Assessment outlining the cost and benefits of the revised standards was conducted prior to the introduction of the 2008 Regulations and copies are available from my Department's website www.environ.ie.
Article 2 of these Regulations sets out the date from which the Regulations take effect. This depends on whether or not the house is an existing rental property or a new let. Existing rental properties will continue to be subject to the relevant provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Housing) Regulations 1993 until 1 February 2013. However, any rental properties being let for the first time after 1 February 2009 have to comply with all the requirements of the new Regulations.
The purpose of Article 6 of the Regulations is to ensure that each rental property has exclusive access to its own sanitary facilities and that those facilities are contained within the dwelling unit. This provision will have the effect of removing non-compliant bed-sit-type accommodation from the rental market. Article 7 relates to effective heating which can be independently managed by the tenant and Article 8 provides for sole access to adequate facilities for hygienic storage, preparation and the cooking of food.
I am satisfied that the private rented residential sector contains a sufficiently large stock of decent housing and of good landlords to ensure that those previously renting accommodation at the lowest end of the market can still be accommodated within that market but in better quality accommodation.
All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations and responsibility for enforcing the regulations rests with the relevant local authority, supported by a dedicated stream of funding allocated by my Department. I expect that landlords will behave responsibly and prepare for the 1 February 2013 deadline as referred to above but I also expect that local authorities will pay particular attention to this aspect of landlords' obligations as they enforce the minimum standards in the years ahead.
A detailed analysis of the composition of the housing market in Ireland will be available later this year when the housing profile segment of the 2011 Census is published.
