Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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282. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to mandate and fund local authorities to publish periodical housing compliance inspection reports for local authority stock and HAP stock; and his plans to implement a graded scoring system for same. [8058/23]

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 those in the private rental sector where the tenancy is Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) supported, have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with the standards set down in the Regulations.

Responsibility for the enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 in the private rental sector, including those dwellings with HAP supported tenancies, rests with the relevant local authority. It is therefore a matter for each local authority to publish statistical information on inspections. I have no proposals to change these arrangements at present.

However, my Department does collate the data on an annual basis and the data from 2005 to 2021 is available at the link below.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/#private-rented-inspections

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.

Last year local authorities conducted an all-time high of over 49,000 inspections of private rented dwellings, up from circa 25,000 in 2020 and 20,000 in 2021 when pandemic restrictions had impacted on inspections. Of these, circa 25,200 inspections were in respect of HAP tenancies.

The Government is committed to supporting and developing a fair and effective residential rental sector that is efficient, stable and responsive and that provides long-term and secure tenancies and investment returns.

As set out in the Housing for All Action Plan Update (published in November, 2022), my Department has commissioned a comprehensive review of the private rental sector. This review will take into account the significant regulatory changes over the past several years and will report on how our housing system can best provide an efficient, affordable, safe and secure framework for both landlords and tenants.

This review will include a thematic review of the principal and relevant elements of the Rental Market, including the manner in which the rental standards process is structured and operates, and the Government will act on its recommendations.