Written answers

Thursday, 6 May 2021

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment

Photo of Mick BarryMick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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77. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will report on the backlog of standards compliance checks on HAP landlords in Cork city and other local authority areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23528/21]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these Regulations. Responsibility for enforcement of the Regulations rests with the relevant local authority.

Local authorities report to my Department on numbers of overall inspections carried out and enforcement actions undertaken on a quarterly basis. The most recent data received in respect of the number of inspections of all private rental properties and those with HAP tenancies is set out in the table below:

HAP Inspections carried out in 2019 Total Inspections carried out in 2019 HAP On-site Inspections carried out in 2020 Total On-site Inspections carried out in 2020 HAP Virtual Inspections carried out in 2020 Total Virtual Inspections carried out in 2020
23,424 40,728 12,031 24,315 991 1,388

The following is the breakdown for the Cork Local authorities:

Local Authority HAP Inspections carried out in 2019 Total Inspections carried out in 2019 HAP On-site Inspections carried out in 2020 Total On-site Inspections carried out in 2020 HAP Virtual Inspections carried out in 2020 Total Virtual Inspections carried out in 2020
Cork City 441 1,042 176 473 2 3
Cork County 1,142 1,410 657 756 0 0

Cork council boundaries changed on 31 May 2019. As a result any direct comparisons of year on year performance for the two councils would need to be cognisant of this fact.

Given the need for inspectors to enter tenants’ homes, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have impacted on the inspection of all rented dwellings – including those with HAP tenancies. The City and County Management Association’s Local Authority Resilience and Recovery Plan for living with Covid-19 (October 2020) and its subsequent Local Authority Services Framework for Future Covid-19 Pandemic Response (January 2021) do not permit rental inspections in Levels 4 and 5. This is in order to protect tenants, landlords and rental inspectors.

In response to the difficulties caused by pandemic restrictions, some local authorities have been piloting virtual inspections. Dublin City Council has led this initiative which entails landlords receiving a checklist for self-assessment and being required to submit photographic/video evidence by email, tenants being invited to raise any non-compliance issues they are aware of and being asked to confirm that any remedial works requested by the local authority have been completed, and the Council reserving the right to conduct a physical on-site inspection when it is safe to do so.

While virtual inspection systems present certain challenges and limitations, they do offer a way of improving the standard of rental accommodation despite the pandemic. I support these initiatives and my Department is encouraging local authorities not already involved in the pilots to consider adopting them. I have committed to providing Exchequer funding for those that do. Cork County Council committed to joining the pilot in January 2021 and Cork City Council have carried out some virtual inspections.

Annual data in respect of the level of inspections carried out by each local authority is available on my Department's website at

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