Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the plans he has to introduce regulations for landlords who are committed to three year guaranteed tenancy agreements and are obliged to give their tenants time to vacate their accommodation when new legislation on bed sits is introduced in January 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54613/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. They specify requirements in relation to a range of matters such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light and safety of gas and electrical supply. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations and responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority supported by a dedicated stream of funding provided from part of the proceeds of tenancy registration fees collected by the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB).

On 1 February 2013, Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 will come into effect for all existing residential rented accommodation. This means that from that date all rental accommodation must have its own separate sanitary facilities. This will result in the phasing-out of the traditional “bed-sit” where sanitary facilities are shared between different rental units. The requirements in relation to heating and facilities for cooking, food storage and laundry have also been updated.

The Regulations took effect in their entirety for all rented properties being let for the first time from 1 February 2009. However, in some cases Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the regulations may have required significant refurbishment works for existing tenancies and as such, a four year phasing-in period was afforded to these properties to facilitate any improvement works that needed to be carried out . This phasing-in period was introduced to take account of views expressed in wide-ranging consultations during the development of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, that it would be necessary to allow time for the carrying out of any significant remedial work that could be involved in achieving compliance.

My Department engaged in an extensive consultation process during the development of the Regulations involving landlord and tenant representative groups, local authorities and the social and voluntary pillar under the social partnership agreement Towards 2016. In addition, a period of public consultation was carried out during July and August 2008 inviting submissions from members of the general public on the proposed new standards regulations. Following the making of the Regulations in December 2008, copies were provided to various sectoral interests, including landlord and tenant representative bodies, and the coming into effect of the Regulations was advertised in the national print media.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides the main regulatory framework for the private rented residential sector and for the operation of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). The Act provides for minimum entitlements in relation to security of tenure based on four year tenancy cycles, known as a Part 4 tenancy. The Act also sets out the grounds for the termination of a Part 4 tenancy. However, the Act does not preclude a landlord giving rights to tenants in a tenancy agreement in addition to those provided for in the Act. Where additional security of tenure rights are given to a tenant in a tenancy agreement, the termination of those rights will depend on the terms of that agreement. The parties to a tenancy may refer any matter relating to the tenancy, in respect of which there is a dispute between them, to the PRTB for resolution.