A leading housing charity claims thousands of private rental properties in Clare not meeting minimum standards is ‘the tip of the iceberg’ of a significant housing quality problem.
It’s after a Clare FM investigation revealed more than 97 percent of rental homes examined by Clare County Council since 2016 had been deemed ‘non compliant’ with regulations.
Figures obtained following a Freedom of Information request show of the 3,005 inspections Clare County Council has undertook on private rented homes since 2016, just 80 were deemed compliant with all regulations.
More than half of properties were deemed in need of structural improvements, had inadequate ventilation and/or insufficient fire safety protocols in the home.
Around a third of homes inspected in this county in the past five years didn’t meet proper standards of heating and warmth.
One improvement letter sent to a landlord in this county, seen by Clare FM, details ‘dry rot’ on a property’s stairs, while another had a hole in its ceiling and “no divide between the house and the next door butchers”.
Almost all properties sent improvement letters needed at least one carbon monoxide detector fitted, while some had out of date smoke alarms or ones that weren’t working.
Karina Timothy, who’s housing charity Threshold’s Western Regional Services Manager, believes that the findings are the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and more investment in to the local authority’s housing department may be needed.
The number of properties not meeting standards has led to calls for further incentives to be provided by the State for landlords to invest in properties to bring them up to standard.
Funding accumulated from the Carbon Tax is set to be ringfenced for the National Retrofitting Programme, along with targeted social welfare initiatives.
However, Ennis-based Fine Gael Councillor Johnny Flynn believes a certain amount should be set aside to the private rental sector to ensure homes are upgraded where necessary.
Clare County Council has set a target of 1,025 properties – around a fifth of the county’s total stock – to be inspected throughout 2022.
The local authority’s told Clare FM it ‘continues to submit quarterly and annual reports to the Housing Rental Standards Unit at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’.
Listen back to the full interview here:
