MORE THAN a fifth of rented properties inspected by local authorities last year failed to meet minimum standards established under new housing regulations.
But the vast majority of landlords escaped any sanction with local authorities initiating three legal prosecutions in 2009.
Figures released by Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran show 4,306 of the 19,800 properties inspected by local authorities last year failed to meet the required standards. In 2008, 2,854 rented properties failed to meet minimum standards following 17,186 inspections.
Provisional figures show almost a third of rented properties inspected in Dublin this year failed to meet the standards. Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, have conducted a total of 2,875 inspections so far in 2010 with 923 properties failing to meet the minimum standards.
Fine Gael Senator Paschal Donohoe said the figures showed the need for the Government to take action to protect tenants.
“Rogue landlords are causing huge distress for residents and tenants in every town and city in Ireland. The Government must ensure that any new regulations that are put in place are fully implemented,” he said.
The 2008 Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulation covers a wide range of areas such as the structural condition of properties, fire safety, sanitary and heating facilities, and ventilation.
Landlords who fail to comply with these standards can face a maximum fine of €5,000 and a fine of €400 each day for a continued breach. However, local authorities remain reluctant to use their extensive powers to bring landlords to court with just eight prosecutions in 2008, three initiated last year and a single prosecution taken in Dublin so far during 2010, according to official figures.
Threshold, the housing charity, said the extremely low number of prosecutions against landlords was very disappointing as landlords needed to be made aware of the high cost of failing to meet the standards to change behaviour.
“Last year more than 20 per cent of properties failed to meet the standards. It is unacceptable that so many vulnerable people continue to live in substandard accommodation,” said Aideen Hayden, chairwoman of Threshold. “Many of these landlords with substandard properties will be receiving payments financed by the taxpayer through rent supplement.”
Threshold is lobbying the Government to set up a certification scheme for landlords, similar to the Building Energy Rating scheme. This would force private landlords to prove their compliance with the legal minimum standards before renting property rather than relying on local authorities to inspect properties and sanction errant landlords.
In a reply to a parliamentary question, Mr Finneran said a report by the Centre for Housing Research in 2007 found the low volume of cases taken each year suggests that most examples of non-compliance with regulations are on a relatively minor scale.