Trouble is growing in the property market. Private sector tenants are experiencing increasing difficulties with unregistered landlords, according to officials from the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). And management services and charges have become highly contentious issues.
Apartment development is becoming the dominant form of new housing in Dublin. But the management of apartment complexes, along with privately-managed housing estates, has given rise to a range of problems involving high running costs, inadequate services and complex title issues where the rights of home owners have been largely ignored.
A key concern is that managing agents employed by property developers are neither licensed nor regulated. Legislation promised by the Government is still awaited.
In 2003, the Government passed a law giving private- sector occupiers greater security of tenure. And it provided dispute-resolution procedures for tenants and landlords through the PRTB. Landlords were required to register all their properties, under threat of fines and possible imprisonment. And provision was made for rent reviews. Five years on, a large number of non-compliant landlords are thumbing their noses at the law.
There has been some improvement. Before the board was formally established, only 22,500 tenancies were registered with local authorities out of an estimated 150,000 rented dwellings in the State. Now, the percentage registered is about two-thirds. But that figure represents a 50,000 shortfall. And it probably accounts for a huge loss of revenue to the Exchequer. The board acknowledged it experienced great difficulty in processing a growing number of complaints from tenants because the addresses of landlords were not known.
A maximum fine of €3,000 may be imposed in court if a landlord fails to register a property with the board. But with limited resources available to identify defaulters, this is clearly an insufficient deterrent. Until non-compliant landlords are actively pursued and heavily penalised little will change.
The legal needs of owners in apartments or housing estates should also be addressed. Managing agents should be vetted, licensed and regulated, with clarity and certainty being introduced into binding contracts. Already, owners are questioning the equity and affordability of privately-managed estates. And those concerns are likely to intensify. It is time for a comprehensive review of problems affecting both rented and privately-owned accommodation.