Laois County Council has a critical public role and duty in ensuring compliance with the standards for rental accommodation through effective inspections and enforcement processes.
Laois County Council is responsible, through inspection, for determining if a property meets the standards for rental accommodation in accordance with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.
The quality of rental accommodation is critical to the success and sustainability of the residential rental sector and to its attractiveness as a long-term accommodation option for households.
Residential rental properties must provide homes that are:
In this context, Laois County Council has a critical public role and duty in ensuring compliance with the standards for rental accommodation through effective inspections and enforcement processes.
Where a property does not meet the required standard, the Council is responsible for ensuring compliance through the use of improvement and prohibition notices and legal proceedings.
Landlords and tenants are required to allow the Housing Authority access to the property to undertake inspections.
An outline of the items that will be checked by the Inspector when carrying out the inspection and a copy of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 are available below:
Landlords are legally required to provide tenants with a property that provides a safe and healthy environment to live in. That means regularly reviewing the condition of the property and carrying out repairs when needed. Landlords are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the dwelling and the equipment provided with it, arising from the wear and tear associated with normal use
Tenants must also take responsibility for the property. They are required to exercise due care when using the dwelling and the equipment in it and to promptly inform the landlord when repairs are needed. Tenants are responsible for the repair of damage, either accidental or deliberate, that is not attributable to normal use.
Tenants may report suspected non-compliance with the standards to the Housing Authority, request that inspections be carried out and are entitled to be informed of the outcomes of inspection and enforcements processes.
This section contains a list of Prohibition Notices served under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 as inserted by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Failure to comply with the minimum standards can result in penalties and prosecution.
Laois County Council can issue Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices to landlords who breach the minimum standards regulations. An Improvement Notice sets out the works that the landlord must carry out to remedy a breach of the regulations. If the landlord does not do these works,
Laois County Council may issue a Prohibition Notice, directing the landlord not to re-let the property until the breach of the regulations has been rectified. A Prohibition Notice is served when the housing authority is of the opinion that a landlord has failed to comply with an Improvement Notice served on them. The Prohibition Notice directs the landlord not to re-let the private rented house for rent or other valuable consideration until the contraventions to which the Improvement Notice relates have been remedied.
Where a landlord re-lets a private rented house in breach of a Prohibition Notice, they may be prosecuted and on conviction, may be subject to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, along with a daily fine of €400 for a continuing offence (together with orders for the costs and expenses of the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence, which may be considerable).
The following were served prohibition notices under Section 18B Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 (as amended) :
The Residential Tenancies Board is the statutory body responsible for the operation of a national registration system for all residential tenancies and for all tenancies provided in the Approved Housing Body Sector. One of the core functions of the RTB is also to provide for tenants and landlords, a timely and cost effective dispute resolution service.
A tenant can take a case against their landlord regarding the standard and maintenance of a dwelling. The tenant must first write a letter to their landlord, outlining the issues, and giving them a reasonable period in which to rectify the situation. If the problem persists after the letter has been sent, they may take a case against the landlord through the RTB.
For further information or to request an inspection please send an e-mail to propertyinspections@laoiscoco.ie