Dáil debates

Thursday, 23 February 2017

Other Questions

Private Rented Accommodation Standards

5:35 pm

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the immediate measures his Department is taking to improve the enforcement of standards in the private rental sector and the standardisation of the reporting of compliance and resolutions by local authorities in response to recent reports in a newspaper (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9020/17]

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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My question is on the enforcement of standards in the private rental sector and the standardisation of the reporting of compliance and resolutions by local authorities. The National Oversight and Audit Commission's private rental sector review of 2014 showed that six local authorities reported 100% failure rates in regard to minimum standards of inspected private rental properties. Wexford's failure rate was 83.1%, yet Wexford County Council informs us that its inspections are reactive only as it does not have the resources for proactive inspections. Will the Minister consider doing something about this?

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published last December, recognises that the quality of rental accommodation is critical to the success and sustainability of the residential rental sector and its attractiveness as a long-term accommodation option for households. A key commitment in the strategy was to review the regulations governing minimum standards in rented accommodation to bring them into line with modern requirements. That review has been completed and, on 27 January, I signed the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017. These new regulations will come into operation generally on 1 July 2017, replacing the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 and the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.

All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure their rented properties comply with the regulations. Responsibility for enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority. The findings and recommendations of the National Oversight and Audit Commission’s report, Rented Houses Inspections - A Review of Local Authority Performance of Private Rented Houses Regulations Functions, were carefully considered in the development of the strategy and have informed the actions put forward. The inspection capacity of local authorities will be strengthened to increase the number and frequency of inspections.  In addition to the updated regulations, procedures for a more efficient, standardised and transparent inspections and enforcement approach across all local authority areas will be introduced. Specific ring-fenced funding for inspections will be provided from 2018 onwards, with the aim of achieving a 25% annual inspection coverage of rental properties by 2021.

There is an acceptance that there is a problem that needs to be resolved. Different local authorities have very different levels of performance in terms of enforcing standards and inspections. We are putting funding in place to try to correct that.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I am glad changes are coming, although I do not understand why it is being postponed until 2018. To highlight the problem, I note that in 2013, Wexford County Council inspected 1,075 private rented properties, but in 2015, it was 240 properties, and in 2016, it was 201. It just does not have the staff. There is a problem in regard to exactly who is going to inspect the properties, whether they are qualified or trained, and what they are trained in. It is a big area. The quality of a person's house has a lot to do with the quality of their life. The Government wants to promote the private rental sector, which is fine, but it does very little about quality. While changes are coming, will they be enough and will local authorities be given enough money to enable to them to carry out the inspections properly and introduce a really transparent system? If a place is inspected and recommendations are made but the landlord does not make the required changes, there is no follow-up. Will that be addressed as well?

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As I said, we have just put new regulations in place in this area and there are time commitments we have committed to in the rental strategy. We cannot simply ramp up the level of inspections overnight because, as the Deputy said, in some local authorities either the systems or the staff simply are not in place. We are trying to put a realistic timeframe in place whereby we can put systems, people and management in place to make sure we get gradually improving figures year on year in order that, by 2021, each local authority will be meeting the target of inspecting one quarter of the rental properties in its area in a year. We are a long way from that now. The averages are in the low single figures in most local authority areas so we need to ramp up capacity. There is a whole series of areas where we currently have a ramping up of capacity in terms of construction, the planning system and the engineering capacity within local authorities because a lot more money is being spent now than was the case until a few years ago. This is part of the wider process. The regulations are now in place and we will put the management systems in place to enforce them.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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We can agree that the lack of enforcement up to now has been a big problem.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I do not disagree with that.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Likewise, people say we do not have good regulation for building in Ireland. I keep saying we have powerful regulation for building in Ireland but we do not enforce it. The lack of enforcement is killing us and is having a big impact on the quality of the units that are delivered.

The Minister referred to the different supply but I believe he is missing the point. He is talking about the short term and he said it is impossible to build social houses overnight. However, in the long term we should be looking at having more of the social housing stock built by local authorities.

The Minister spoke about the three areas of social, private and affordable rental. What about affordable private? Getting NAMA to do deals with Cairn Homes, Hines and those fellows means we are looking at units coming in at more than €300,000. With affordable private, where the State is involved directly, they will be supplied at €200,000 per unit on State land. I do not understand why the Government does not take that on board and move in that direction.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We will look at any sensible suggestions people have and we will test them. If they make sense, we will try to incorporate them into the housing plan. That is why we are looking at affordable rental models in Dublin at the moment, and we will do it in other parts of the country as well if it makes sense. We have to do it case by case and it is not a question of opening up a new category that would be demand led because we do not have funding approval for that. We will look to create affordable rental developments, especially around build-to-rent developments in the centre of Dublin city. We need to create affordable accommodation options for people who otherwise have to live as far away as Portlaoise and commute to Dublin every day, which does not make sense on many levels. If the Deputy has any suggestions, we will be happy to take them on board.