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 supplies. These Regulations apply to all properties let or available for let. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with the standards set down in the Regulations.
Responsibility for the enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 in the private rental sector rests with the relevant local authority.
The Government is committed to ensuring that a stock of high quality accommodation is available for those who live in the private rented sector. A total of €10.5m in Exchequer funding is being made available by my Department to local authorities this year to help them meet their private rental inspection targets.
The number of rental inspections conducted by local authorities has increased significantly in recent years. Increasing from an average of 20,000 a year in the period 2005 to 2017 to over 49,000 in 2022, over 63,500 in 2023, and an all-time-high of over 80,000 in 2024.
Detailed data in respect of the level of inspections and enforcement actions carried out and legal actions initiated by each local authority in 2023 and 2024 is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/. The data provided to my Department by local authorities does not include a breakdown of how many inspections were in respect of AHB-owned properties.
Rental inspection data is submitted by local authorities to my Department on a quarterly basis. Provisional data indicates that 63,192 inspections had been conducted by local authorities in 2025 by the end of quarter 3. Finalised full-year data for 2025 will be uploaded, in due course, to my Department's website.
