Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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225. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will introduce measures in order that local authority tenants and tenants of approved housing bodies can have their properties inspected by city and county council environmental health officers; if there are other mechanisms in place for these tenants to raise complaints concerning the condition of their properties if they feel that appropriate action has not been taken to rectify maintenance complaints; if the allocation of capital funding to approved housing bodies can be made conditional on them dealing effectively with maintenance complaints; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7793/23]

Darragh 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 and specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, fire safety and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supplies. These Regulations apply to all properties let or available for let. All landlords, including local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with the standards set down in the Regulations.

In accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act, 1966 local authorities are legally responsible for the management and maintenance of their housing stock. Social housing tenants should report relevant maintenance issues to their local authority. Should it fail to resolve the issues, the tenant can make use of the local authority’s complaints handling system. If this does not resolve the matter, the tenant can submit a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Responsibility for the enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority. Last year local authorities conducted circa 49,000 inspections of private rented dwellings, including AHB properties. Housing for All sets a target for the inspection of 25% of all private residential tenancies. A total of €9 million in Exchequer funding is being made available by my Department to local authorities this year to help them meet their private rental inspection targets.

Local authorities regularly select AHB properties for inspection for compliance with the minimum rental standards Regulations. They are also very responsive to requests to inspect private rented dwellings where a tenant believes the standard is not being met and in this regard I would encourage tenants, including AHB tenants, to contact their local authority and request an inspection to assess whether their accommodation meets the minimum requirements. Contact details for all local authorities can be found on my Department's website at: www.gov.ie/en/help/departments/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/en/service/list-of-county-councils/#local-authorities.

All funding of AHBs for new housing delivery is provided either by or with the approval of the relevant local authority. Accordingly, local authorities are in a position to consider the performance of AHBs in relation to maintenance or other pertinent issues when approving new AHB housing proposals.

Funding allocated to the AHB sector under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility, includes funding for a variety of ongoing maintenance activities during the term of the lease, which is typically thirty years. In addition, the majority of the larger AHBs have systems in place to allow tenants to report maintenance issues, and would engage in regular exercises to gain feedback on tenants’ views.

As provided for in the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019, the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) was formally established on 1 February 2021. It is an independent body tasked with the regulation of AHBs for the purposes of protecting housing assets provided or managed by such bodies.

All AHBs are required to adopt the standards for AHBs that are provided for in the 2019 Act and were developed in conjunction with the sector. These standards are available on the AHBRA’s website (). The standards cover matters relating to corporate governance; financial management and reporting; property and asset management; and tenancy management.

Specifically, the property and asset management standard provides for the maintenance of housing stock and AHBs must be able to demonstrate in their assessments an annual programme of repairs and maintenance designed to deliver their asset management objectives.

The Regulator will monitor compliance by AHBs with the approved standards and has the power to carry out a standards assessment to determine if an AHB is complying with the standards. The AHBRA may monitor and assess AHBs against the published standards and can require compliance plans to be established and implemented for AHBs failing these assessments. The Act further provides the AHBRA with the power to appoint inspectors to investigate and report on the affairs of an AHB.