Written answers

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Private Rented Accommodation Data

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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460. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of private rented properties by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18978/18]

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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461. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of private rented properties that comply with Part M regulations by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18979/18]

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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462. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the percentage of private rented properties suitable for occupancy by persons in wheelchairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18980/18]

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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463. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of private rented properties that are pre and post 1 June 1992, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18981/18]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 460 to 463, inclusive, together.

My Department does not hold or collate the data referred to by the Deputy in relation to private rental properties.

The Clerk of the Dáil requested that arrangements be put in place to facilitate the provision of information by State Bodies to members of the Oireachtas. Following the issue of Circular LG (P)05/16 on 20 September 2016 from my Department, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) set up a dedicated email address for this purpose, at OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie.

Part M of the Building Regulations does not differentiate between owner occupied and rental properties, but applies equally to all dwellings, including social housing. New buildings and extensions or material alterations to existing buildings must comply with the legal minimum performance standards set out in the Building Regulations 1997 - 2017. In this context, the Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use(2010), which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements that a building must achieve in respect of access. The TGDs are available on my Department’s website at

.

The requirements of Part M aim to ensure that, regardless of age, size or disability:

- new buildings other than dwellings are accessible and usable;

- extensions to existing buildings other than dwellings are, where practicable, accessible and usable;

- material alterations to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings, where practicable;

- certain changes of use to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings where practicable; and

- new dwellings are visitable.

Guidance on how to design, build and manage buildings and spaces so that they can be readily accessed and used by everyone, regardless of age, size, ability or disability is available in Building for Everyone, A Universal Design Approach , a National Disability Authority(NDA) publication, which may be accessed at www.nda.ie.

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