What are the Minimum Standards to which a Tenant is entitled to in Rented Accommodation?
Minimum standards are set out in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 and the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009. These regulations specify requirements in relation to a range of matters such as structural repair, absence of damp and rot, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, light and safety of gas and electrical supply. Full details are available on the Department’s website www.environ.ie.
All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations and Local Authorities are responsible for the enforcement of the regulations.
What are the main features of the new Regulations?
Article 5 – Structural Condition
- All rental accommodation must be maintained in a proper state of structural. This means that the dwelling must be essentially sound, internally and externally, with roof, roofing tiles and slates, windows, floors, ceilings, walls, stairs, doors, skirting boards, fascia, tiles on any floor, ceiling and wall, gutters, down pipes, fittings, furnishings, gardens and common areas maintained in good condition and repair and not defective due to dampness or otherwise.
Article 6 – Sanitary Facilities
- All rental accommodation must contain the following self-contained sanitary facilities:
- Water closet (toilet), with wash hand basin adjacent to it supplied with hot and cold water
- Fixed bath or shower, supplied with hot and cold water
- These facilities must be provided in a room separate from other rooms by a wall and door and contain separate
Article 7 – Heating Facilities
- All habitable rooms must contain a fixed appliance (or appliances) capable of providing effective heating. The tenant must be able to control the operation of the heating
Article 8 – Food Preparation and Storage and Laundry
The minimum standard for all rental accommodation is that they should all contain the following self-contained facilities:
- 4 ring hob with oven and grill
- Provision for the effective and safe removal of fumes to the external air by means of cooker hood or an extractor fan
- Fridge and freezer
- Microwave oven
- Sink with a draining area
- Adequate number of kitchen presses for food storage purposes
- Washing machine within the dwelling unit or access to a communal washing machine facility within the curtilage of the building
- In cases where the accommodation does not contain a garden or yard for the exclusive use of this accommodation, a dryer must be
Article 9 – Ventilation
- The minimum standard for all habitable rooms is to have adequate ventilation, maintained in good repair and working order. Kitchens and bathrooms must be provided with adequate ventilation for the removal of water vapour to the external
Article 10 – Lighting
- All habitable rooms must have adequate natural lighting.
- All rooms (including every hall, stairs and landing) must have a suitable and adequate means of artificial.
- The windows of every room containing a bath and/or shower and a water-closet shall be suitably and adequately screened to ensure privacy.
Article 11 – Fire Safety
- Multi-unit dwellings are required to contain a mains-wired smoke alarm, a fire blanket, emergency lighting in common areas and an emergency evacuation
- Rental units that do not form part of a multiple unit must have a fire blanket and either a mains-wired smoke alarm or at least two 10-year self-contained battery-operated smoke
Article 12 – Refuse Facilities
- The Regulations require access for tenants to proper, pest and vermin-proof refuse storage. The use of communal storage facilities, where appropriate, will be considered to comply with the regulations.
Article 13 – Electricity and Gas
- Installations in the house for electricity and gas supply must be maintained in good repair and safe working
There must also be, where necessary, provision for the safe and effective
