Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2024
317. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how much funding is provided to local authorities in 2024 to carry out property inspections (whether by third party private contractors working on their behalf or by local authority staff directly in order to comply with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. [3755/24]
View answer318. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how many of the 31 local authorities have a dedicated property inspection staff member/team to conduct inspections in line with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019, in tabular form. [3756/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 317 and 318 together.
The standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 and specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, fire safety and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supplies. These Regulations apply to all properties let or available for let. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with the standards set down in the Regulations. Responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority.
The Government is committed to ensuring that a stock of high quality accommodation is available for those who live in the private rented sector. Housing for All sets a target of 25% for the inspection of all private residential tenancies from 2021. A total of €9 million in Exchequer funding is being made available to local authorities by my Department this year.
Provisional figures for last year indicate that local authorities conducted an all-time high of circa 64,000 inspections of private rented dwellings, up from circa 49,000 in 2022 and 20,000 in 2021. Annual data in respect of the level of inspections and enforcement carried out by each local authority is available on my Department's website at the following link, finalised data for 2023 will be uploaded in due course:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/.
Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. The structure of private rental inspection teams varies across local authorities and is a matter for the local authorities themselves. Some local authorities have a dedicated team with the sole function of enforcing the minimum rental standards Regulations in the private rental sector. Many have teams and staff with multiple housing-related functions, including the enforcement of the rental standards. A small number of local authorities augment their rental inspection capacity with Health Service Executive environmental health officers and/or third-party contractors.
