Sorca Clarke
Question:184. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of prosecutions instigated against landlords regarding non-compliant housing standards in tabular form. [18099/21]
View answerThursday, 1 April 2021
Questions (184)
Written answers
The Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supply. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply. Responsibility for enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority.
Local authorities have a strong legislative framework available to them which provides for the issuing of Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices where landlords are in breach of their obligations. Under Section 34 of that Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, any person who fails to comply with an improvement notice or re-lets a house in breach of a prohibition notice, will be guilty of an offence and will be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.
Data in respect of the number of Inspections of private rental properties, Improvement Letters issued, Improvement and Prohibition Notices issued, and the legal actions initiated by local authorities in the period 2005 to 2019 is available on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/
Information in relation to the number of inspections and enforcement actions undertaken in 2020 is currently being collated by my Department and will be available on the website shortly.