Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1046.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government given that the Housing For All plan includes a target for rented accommodation to be inspected every four years, the number of properties that were inspected in 2022 and 2023. [31388/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The 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 installations.

Responsibility for the enforcement of the Regulations in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority. If a property has been found to be non-compliant with the Regulations, it is a matter for the local authority to determine what action is necessary and appropriate. Under sections 18A and 18B of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, a housing authority may serve an Improvement Notice or Prohibition Notice, respectively, where a property is found to be non-compliant.

The Government is committed to ensuring that a stock of high quality accommodation is available for those who live in the private rented sector. Housing for All sets a target of 25% for the inspection of all private residential tenancies from 2021. 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 conducted over 49,000 inspections of private rented dwellings in 2022 and an all-time high of over 63,500 in 2023. The number of inspections continues to rise with over 18,000 conducted in Q1 2024 – a 12% increase on the circa 16,000 in Q1 2023.

Annual data in respect of the level of inspection and enforcement activity by each local authority is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/#private-rented-inspections