Enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 rests with the relevant local authority (LA). Given the need for inspectors to enter tenants’ homes, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions greatly impacted on private rental inspections from March 2020 and saw a substantial drop in the number of inspections conducted.
In response, Dublin City Council commenced trialling virtual inspections in May 2020 which entailed landlords completing a self-assessment checklist and submitting photographic/video evidence by email, and the inspector engaging with the tenant by phone about the condition of the dwelling.
The Department supported this initiative by providing the same level of Exchequer subvention as that for traditional on-site inspections and encouraged other LAs to get involved.
Five local authorities joined the pilot in 2020 and undertook 1,388 virtual inspections. A further 14 joined in 2021. A total of 5,109 virtual inspections were conducted that year.
The County and City Management Association permitted a return to on-site inspections from July 14th 2021. In August 2021 the Department issued an online survey questionnaire to gauge LA attitudes to virtual inspections and learn from their experiences and any problems encountered.
Many respondents expressed the opinion that while virtual inspection systems presented certain challenges and limitations, they offered a way of improving the standard of rental accommodation despite the pandemic. Some saw a role for virtual inspections post-pandemic alongside traditional on-site inspections.
Housing for All commits to supporting the implementation of virtual inspections with the ultimate aim of them being part of the mainstream inspection regime in LAs.
The Department has continued to provide a subvention for virtual inspections. With pandemic restrictions fully lifted, 2022 saw circa 36,000 inspections undertaken by the end of Q3. Of these 844 were virtual inspections and were conducted by a total of 10 LAs.
|