Over 90% of private rental dwellings inspected by Clare County Council last year were not compliant with regulation standards.
The latest report from the National Oversight and Audit Commission shows over 900 properties in this county failed examinations over the past twelve months.
Clare County Council’s Housing Department inspected approximately 1,000 rental properties last year.
Of those, 91% failed initial inspection and after this a further 105 re-inspections were carried out.
All told, just 186 tenancies in this county were deemed compliant with standard regulations, bringing Clare’s overall failure rate to 84%.
A total of 4,818 tenancies were registered with the local authority last year, meaning 19% of rental properties in the county failed an examination.
To meet the Standards for Rented Houses Regulations 2019, landlords must ensure that each apartment, flat or house being let, is free from damp and is structurally sound internally and externally.
Properties must also meet strict conditions surrounding food preparation, basic hygiene and fire safety and are subject to annual inspections by the local housing department.
All landlords, whose properties fail inspection, receive an improvement letter detailing works to be completed within a prescribed timeframe.
Failure to complete these works may then result in the issue of a Prohibition Notice, which directs the landlord not to re-let the house until all violations have been rectified.
