Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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408. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the provisions in place to protect those in multi-occupancies from unsuitable conditions and in particular to prevent two to three-bedroom houses from renovation into large occupancy units of five to ten persons in cramped conditions. [13379/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. These Regulations focus on tenant safety and specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, safety of gas, oil and electrical supply and fire. These Regulations apply to all properties let or available for let and are available at

These Regulations do not address the minimum area of a dwelling or any of the rooms contained within.

With very limited exemptions, the regulations apply to all private rented residential accommodation. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply. Responsibility for enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority.

Local authorities have a strong legislative framework available to them which provides for the issuing of Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices where landlords are in breach of their obligations. Under Section 34 of that Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, any person who fails to comply with an improvement notice or re-lets a house in breach of a prohibition notice, will be guilty of an offence and will be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

Part IV of the Housing Act 1966 deals with overcrowding and establishes effective limits on the numbers of people that can occupy the same bedroom. The Act requires, inter alia, that there is at least 400 cubic feet of free air space for each person in a bedroom. Local Authorities are responsible for the enforcement of this legislation.

Under the Act, a housing authority may request information from the owner or occupier of a house such as will allow that authority to determine if a house can be deemed to be overcrowded, having regard to section 63 of the Act.

Under the Act, a local authority can prohibit the use of an overcrowded dwelling, irrespective of whether it is being let or not, and can serve notice on the owner of a dwelling specifying the maximum number of persons that may occupy it without causing overcrowding. If the owner of a house is causing or permitting the house to be overcrowded, the authority can require the owner to desist from this within a period not exceeding 21 days. Any person who neglects or refuses to comply with these requirements is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class C fine not exceeding €2,500 and/or to imprisonment for up to one month.

Overcrowding may give rise to concerns in respect of fire safety, and may lead to enforcement action by fire authorities.

I am committed to empowering local authorities to deal with overcrowding more effectively.

My Department is currently working on proposed legislative changes to the Housing Act 1966 which are designed to strengthen the statutory framework for the enforcement of the Act's overcrowding provisions.