Seanad debates
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Private Residential Tenancies Board
7:00 pm
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Joe Costello. As I have not had an opportunity to do so since he was elevated to his current position, I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and wish him well in his new portfolio.
Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I, too, welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in office. The issue I raise is in respect of the failure of a large number of landlords to register properties with the Private Residential Tenancies Board. This information has emerged as a result of a survey of a large number of properties carried out by Cork University Residents Forum. The survey found that up to 60% of private rented accommodation in the area around University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology were not registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board. Of the private rented accommodation occupied by tenants in the area, only 57% was found to be occupied. I understand that on 4 October 2011 representatives of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, appearing before the Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht, confirmed that 37% of landlords in receipt of rent supplement are not registered with the board. This means that, based on figures issued by the Department of Social Protection on 16 January 2012, the Department is paying out approximately â¬185 million per annum to landlords who are not legally registered.
The survey by the Cork University Residents Forum found that of 610 houses in the Mardyke area of the city, 233 were occupied by permanent residents, that is, homeowners, 152 were private properties registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board and 235 were rented properties which were not registered with the board. This means 60% of private rented properties in the area were not registered. Another area, Wilton Court near Cork University Hospital, has 105 houses with 26 permanent residents. Some 45 are registered and 31 are not registered.
It surveyed a total of 1,336 houses. Some 395 were owner-occupied, 531 were registered and 413 were not registered. Of 944 houses in the rental market surveyed, 413 were not registered. This is a very high figure.
What action do we propose to take to deal with this? Should rents be paid, especially if they are being paid by a Department or a local authority, if the landlord is not registered? Should the law be clearly implemented if the landlord is not registered? Should there be an audit of houses identified as not being registered? Should the Revenue Commissioners carry out an audit to see if proper returns are being made to them?
Another issue which arose in its examination of documentation with the PRTB was incorrect addresses being registered with the board. The properties registered were not easily identifiable. A further problem it found was that a number of properties were registered more than once. For instance, it found that one property - St. Joseph's, Bendemeer Park, Magazine Road - was registered on five occasions. There is much incorrect information with the PRTB.
Action needs to be taken. If there is a need for amending legislation to be brought in, now is the time to look at it. The PRTB admitted that 37% of landlords in receipt of rent supplement were not registered. We should deal with this matter as soon as possible.
Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for his congratulations and I extend my congratulations to him. We soldiered together here in the past and it is good to see him in that chair.
I thank Senator Burke for raising this important matter in which I have considerable interest. I am glad to have the opportunity to address it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and to outline the progress made by the Private Residential Tenancies Board in tackling the issue of non-registration of tenancies. I was particularly interested to hear the facts and figures from the survey Senator Burke mentioned.
The PRTB was established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The Act provides the main legislative framework for the private rented residential sector and for the operation of the PRTB. There has been a notable recent increase in tenancy registration applications due to the enforcement drive in this regard by the PRTB over the past year, in particular where it identified unregistered landlords whose tenants were in receipt of rent supplement from the Department of Social Protection. As a result, the rate of non-compliance has dropped from 37% for the last quarter in 2010, which Senator Burke mentioned, to 18% for the second quarter of 2011, a reduction of more than 50%.
The Act applies to all dwellings that are the subject of a tenancy, whether oral or in writing or implied, except for the exemptions outlined in section 3(2) of the Act. There are tenancies where the tenant is in receipt of rent supplement which are outside the ambit of the Act, such as a dwelling within which the landlord also resides. Matters arising within the exempted categories are dealt with, as necessary, by civil proceedings. All other matters fall to be dealt with by the PRTB.
The PRTB enforces tenancies' registration requirements in accordance with the provisions of the Act, specifically sections 144 and 145 which provide for the issuing of notices to landlords and-or occupiers of the dwellings in question and the prosecution of offenders for non-compliance with the registration requirement. Under section 9 of the Act, a person guilty of an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
The PRTB has laid the groundwork for a compliance programme for prosecuting landlords who fail to apply for tenancy registration. New software rolled out in May 2011 is effectively interrogating databases provided by sister public sector organisations - primarily, the Department of Social Protection - and is proving a very effective tool both in identifying unregistered landlords and electronically managing their case files to secure registration compliance and bring prosecutions where necessary.
Tax compliance is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners and the PRTB provides information to them in this regard. In line with increased funding, local authorities have significantly expanded their inspection activities in recent years. In 2010, the Department offered additional funding to all housing authorities to carry out once-off strategically planned programmes of inspection in addition to their usual inspection activity and to target key areas and categories of rented accommodation, including properties that are the subject of rent supplement. Full details of the inspections carried out on a county and city basis are published in the Department's annual housing statistics bulletins.
If Senator Colm Burke would like to submit any new data or research on this matter and if the details of what he mentioned are available, we would like to look at it and the Minister, Deputy Hogan, will ensure the matter receives appropriate attention.
Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I note he referred to the second quarter of 2011 and the figure of 18%. The survey carried by the Cork university residents' forum was done in December 2011-January 2012 and its results are from that period. Its information is quite up to date. I am a bit concerned that the Minister of State's figures are for the second quarter of 2011, which is up to May-June. There is a big difference between the 18% figure presented by the PRTB and up to 60% not being registered on a particular road.
Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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The survey was done between the end of December 2011 and early January 2012. Has there been a fall-off in registration since the second quarter of 2011? Does that need to be looked at?
Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Those are my figures. Due to cross-referencing with the different Departments, there has been a huge improvement in the registration of landlords and the percentage of unregistered landlords dropped from 37% to 18% in the second quarter of 2011. Since the Senator's survey relates to a period almost six months later it is appropriate to query whether there has been any worsening of, or any improvement in, the situation. I will take this back to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and we will check the figures and get back to the Senator on any further developments.
Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I can give the Minister of State a copy of the survey and the roads involved.