Written answers

Wednesday, 30 March 2022

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Schemes

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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44. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of HAP applications that have been rejected or not processed due to the quality of the accommodation being at an unacceptable standard. [16897/22]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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A key principle of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is that eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector, which best suits their needs, in their area of choice

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.

The HAP scheme is underpinned by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. Under section 41 of the 2014 Act, local authorities are required to commence the inspection process within 8 months of HAP support being provided in relation to a particular dwelling, if the dwelling was not already inspected within the previous 12 months. Local authorities carry out HAP inspections as part of their overall private rented inspections programme.

The HAP legislation provides a very structured, time bound system where serious lack of compliance exists and can result in termination of HAP payment.

Failure to comply with the minimum standards can result in penalties and prosecution. Local authorities can issue Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices to landlords who breach the minimum standards regulations. An Improvement Notice sets out the works that the landlord must carry out to remedy a breach of the regulations.

In the case of a Prohibition Notice being enforced, a local authority may provide, or continue to provide, HAP in respect of that property for a period of 13 weeks, to enable the household to find an alternative dwelling.

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