Parlimentary Question addressed to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with the remaining provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 being introduced on 1February 2013, if landlords will be subject to a fine in examples (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Reply

(A) If a tenant refused to cooperate with the landlord’s request to access a property found to be non-compliant with the minimum standards or, to temporarily leave a property to do work on it and this delays the process longer than 60 days.

(B) If a tenant refuses to leave a property after been given notice that the property has been deemed non-compliant and the landlord has decided to take the property off the market
REPLY

Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (Ms. J. O’Sullivan)

Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992.

Section 34 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 , provides that a ny person who by act or omission, obstructs an authorised person in the lawful exercise of the powers, or contravenes a provision of, or a regulation made under, section 17, 18 or 20 of the 1992 Act, or fails to comply with an improvement notice, or re-lets a house in breach of a pro hibition notice, is guilty of an offence and is liable, on su mmary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceed ing 6 months or both. If the obstruction, contravention, failure to comply or re-letting is co ntinued after conviction the person is guilty of a further offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €400.

All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Responsibility for enforcing the regulations rests with the relevant local authority, supported by a dedicated st ream of funding allocated by my Department.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides the main regulatory framework for the private rented residential sector and for the operation of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). The Act provides for minimum entitlements in relation to security of tenure based on four year tenancy cycles, known as a Part 4 tenancy. The Act also sets out the grounds for the termination of a Part 4 tenancy. However, the Act does not preclude a landlord giving rights to tenants in a tenancy agreement in addition to those provided for in the Act. Where additional security of tenure rights are given to a tenant in a tenancy agreement, the termination of those rights will depend on the terms of that agreement. The parties to a tenancy may refer any matter relating to the tenancy , in respect of which there is a dispute between them , to the PRTB for resolution.