Caden Grimes Estates

Residential & Commercial Property Sales & Lettings | Lettings Management | Accommodation Outsourcing | Corporate Relocation

Minimum Standards In Rented Accommodation

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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 2017. 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.housing.gov.ie.

What are the main features of the Regulations?

All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations and enforcement of these regulations is the responsibility of each Local Authority.

  • Article 4 – Structural Condition

All rental accommodation must be maintained in a proper state of structural repair. 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.

There must be suitable safety restrictors attached to a window which has an opening through which a person may fall and the bottom of the opening is more than 1400mm above the external ground level. Suitably safety restrictors must secure window sufficiently to prevent such falls. Lockable restrictors that can only be released by removable keys or other tools should not be fitted to window opening sections.

  • Article 5 – Sanitary Facilities

All rental accommodation must contain the following self-contained sanitary facilities:

Water closet with dedicated wash hand basin 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 ventilation.

  • Article 6 – Heating Facilities

All habitable rooms must contain a fixed heating appliance which is capable of providing effective heating. The tenant must be able to control the operation of the heating appliance. Where necessary, suitably located devices for the detection and alarm of carbon monoxide.

  • Article 7 – Food Preparation and Storage and Laundry

All rental accommodation shall 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… Cont’d…

…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 provided.

  • Article 8 – Ventilation

All habitable rooms must 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 air.

  • Article 9 – 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 lighting. 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 10 – Fire Safety

(i) Multi-unit dwellings are required to contain fire detection and alarm system, an emergency evacuation plan and emergency lighting in common areas.

(ii) Rental units that do not form part of a multiple unit must have suitable, self-contained fire detection and alarm system and a suitably located fire blanket. Smoke alarms should be either mains-wired with battery back-up or are 10-year self-contained battery-operated smoke alarms.

  • Article 11 – Refuse Facilities

The Regulations require access for tenants to proper, pest and vermin-proof refuse storage facilities. The use of communal storage facilities, where appropriate, will be considered to comply with the regulations.

  • Article 12 – Electricity and Gas

Installations in the house for gas, oil and electricity supply including pipework, storage facilities and electrical distribution boxes must be maintained in good repair and safe working order.

There must also be, where necessary, provision for the safe and effective removal of fumes to the external air.

  • Do the regulations apply to all rental accommodation? 

Yes, the regulations apply to all rental accommodation with the exception of the following:
· Holiday homes
· Accommodation provided by the HSE or an approved housing body containing communal sanitary, cooking and dining facilities. This kind of accommodation usually houses people with disabilities or the elderly and provides support for people with special needs who require assistance to live in the community
· Demountable (e.g. mobile homes) housing provided by a housing authority
· Accommodation let by a housing authority or an approved housing body will be exempt from the requirements for food preparation, storage and laundry purposes. In this kind of accommodation the tenant usually provides these goods, retaining ownership of them when they move to new accommodation (All other articles of the Regulations apply to both housing authorities and to approved housing bodies.)
When did the new regulations come into effect?
· The Regulations took effect on 1st July 2017.
Do the regulations apply to older protected structures” or listed buildings?
· Listed buildings are required to meet the requirements of the Regulations. The owner or occupier of a protected structure is entitled to ask the planning authority …Cont’d… …identify works that would, or would not, require planning permission in the case of their particular building. Landlords will be advised to contact the conservation officer in the local authority for advice when considering undertaking works.

How are the Regulations enforced?

· Responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations rests with the relevant local authority and it is a matter for each individual local authority to decide the specific details of its enforcement strategy and inspection arrangements. Local authority inspectors inspect rental properties for the purpose of ensuring they comply with the regulations and where a property does not comply, can engage a series of sanctions against a landlord.

· An Improvement Notice sets out the works a landlord must carry out, within a set timeframe, to remedy any breach of the regulations. Where an Improvement Notice is not complied with, a housing authority may issue a Prohibition Notice, which directs a landlord not to re-let a property until the breach of the regulations has been rectified.

· A person who obstructs an authorised person in the lawful exercise of their powers or who contravenes the regulations is guilty of an offence. Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice or a Prohibition Notice is also an offence.

· The maximum fine for an offence is €5,000 and €400 for each day of a continuing offence. Where a person is guilty of an offence under this Act, the court shall, unless there are particular reasons for not doing so, order that person to pay the costs and expenses incurred by the housing authority in relation to the prosecution of the offence

Contact details for your local authority, along with a technical information guide and copies of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, can be found on the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Governments website www.housing.gov.ie

Caden Grimes Estates is a licenced Estate Agent,
PSRA Nr 001883.
Providing commercial and residential Sales and Lettings, Lettings Management and Corporate Relocation.

Affordable Homes Scheme – Affordable For Who?

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€400,000 For A 3-bed Apartment In O’Devanney Gardens

Fiona Reddan of The Irish Times has the story here

Caden Grimes Estates Is A PSRA Licenced Dublin Estate Agent
Licence Nr 001883
Info@CGestates.ie

Squeaky Flooring Drives Me NUTS!!

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Pat McGovern is a chartered building surveyor and member of the 
Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.

Writing here in The Irish Times

Creaking or squeaking floorboards are usually the result of loose boards and when walked upon they creak. The board may rub off another, a fixing nail or joist. There are many reasons for a loose floorboard, but the main ones are use of incorrect nails or nails too far apart due to inadequate nailing. The solution here is to screw-fix the board to the joists to secure the boards. You cannot introduce nails or it will do further damage to ceilings etc.

The screws should be fixed at 400mm centres in both directions and consideration should be given to countersinking the screw head into the floor board. At all times check for pipes or cables before screwing.

Another cause may be an unsupported end joint between floorboards. To resolve this the floorboard falling short of a support must be lifted and an extension added to the joist to support the board end. As this will involve cutting the tongue of the board to be removed it is not a simple DIY job but one for an experienced carpenter.

If this simple approach does not work, you need to investigate further.

Other considerations include problems with the joists supporting the boards. These may have twisted due to shrinkage or poor workmanship during construction. They may also be undersized for the floor span and result in sagging of the floor joist. This can lead to movement between the board and joist resulting in creaking. There may be a need to add additional bridging pieces at regular intervals across the floor to strengthen it. However, this is a big job involving lifting of the floorboards.

It is also worth checking the joists to see if an overzealous plumber or electrician has drilled excessive holes in the joist to facilitate a plumbing pipe or cable resulting in a weakening of the joist. Joists should also be fixed solidly at either end of the span on to the wall or a joist hanger and spaced at 400mm centres usually.

One last thing to consider is expanding heating pipes which expand and move slightly when they warm up which may cause the floorboard to make noise if it rubs off a heating pipe. A droll carpenter suggested to me the use of talcum powder, while I’ve no doubt would work for a short time, but it is not a long-term solution.

Caden Grimes Estates is licensed Estate Agent, PSRA Nr 001883
Info@CGestates.ie

You’re A First Time Buyer But Your Partner Isn’t

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At least one lender is willing to consider applications – but with conditions –
Dominic Coyle had an interesting article in the Irish Times this week –

Caden Grimes Estates is registered for the Sale and Letting of Property, PSRA Licence 001883

Last week, we had a letter from a woman who was checking to see if there was any way she, who has never owned a property, could avail of first-time buyer status given that her husband had previously owned an apartment.

I said confidently that, as a married couple, all lenders would assess them jointly and therefore his previous property ownership would disbar her – even though she had the earnings and savings to qualify for the required mortgage on her own.

Since then, I have had a couple of emails from financial advisers alerting me that the situation is no longer as cut and dried. Belinda McCauley, mortgage manager at Money Plus, which is based in Sligo but has a Dublin office, and Andriú Mac Lochlainn, a regional head of financial planning at Murray & Spelman, which has offices in Naas and in Galway, both tell me that at least one lender is prepared to consider such cases.

Haven Mortgages was originally set up by EBS Building Society but is now a specialist unit within AIB offering home loans through brokerages as against the direct channel with the bank.

It apparently does consider applications from lenders in the reader, Ms P.O’F.’s, position although both advisers warn that the criteria for acceptance are quite restrictive.

Apparently, they will insist that the applying spouse is not only financially independent but that they are able to carry their spouse as a dependent when affordability is considered. I’m conscious that, in Ms P. O’F’s, case, her husband is also financially independent – and apparently this is also likely to be a requirement – but it appears that, for the purpose of assessing the affordability of this mortgage that might not be taken into consideration.

The applicant will similarly have to demonstrate that they have the financial muscle to provide for any dependent children.

Not surprisingly, if a mortgage was secured, the property would have to be registered solely in the name of the borrower, not both spouses. If all that pans out, then I am told that the borrowing spouse could avail of first-time buyer status.

As you can see, the conditions are pretty onerous but, in a world where no other lender appears even to consider such loans, it is at least an option and one that people in our reader’s position might like to consider.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2, or email dcoyle@irishtimes.com. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.