Inspection and Enforcement of Private Rented Standards
Inspection and enforcement within Private Rented Properties inside the Dublin City catchment area is the responsibility of the Dublin City Council Environmental Health section, as part of Housing and Community Services department.
An inspection may be instigated undertaken as part of the HAP, Homeless HAP or RAS process, or it may be carried out due to a complaint or it may be carried out on a proactive basis.
Every Inspection will be undertaken by an Environmental Health Officer who is both authorised to undertake this work.
Where contraventions to the regulations are noted, an Improvement Letter or Improvement Notice may be served. An Improvement Letter and an Improvement Notice details the works to be completed by the landlord within a prescribed time frame. Failure to complete these works may result in an escalation of enforcement proceedings, for example from an Improvement Letter to an Improvement Notice or from an Improvement Notice to a Prohibition Notice and, possibly, legal proceedings being issued in respect of the property.
A prohibition notice is served when the housing authority is of the opinion that a landlord has failed to comply with an improvement notice served on them. The Environmental Health Officer may also consider initiating legal proceedings. The prohibition notice directs the landlord not to re-let the private rented house for rent or other valuable consideration until the contraventions to which the Improvement notice relates have been remedied
Where a landlord re-lets a private rented house in breach of a prohibition notice, they may be prosecuted and on conviction, may be subject to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, along with a daily fine of €400 for a continuing offence (together with orders for the costs and expenses of the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence, which may be considerable).
To view the list of current prohibition notices served under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 as inserted by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, within Dublin City Councils functional area click here; View Prohibition Notices
An inspection of a private rented property may be either a physical inspection or a virtual inspection.
There are two types of virtual inspection currently undertaken by Dublin City Council;
- Virtual inspection - online form: The Landlord (or their representative) will be contacted and asked to complete an online survey on the condition of the property – this includes questions from all sections of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. The Landlord is given six weeks to complete and submit the online form along with the required photographs and documentation.
- The checklist will be sent via email.
- The tenant will be advised that a virtual inspection process has been commenced by the Environmental Health Officer.
- Once the Virtual Inspection documentation and photographs are returned, the Environmental Health Officer assesses the information received. The Environmental Health Officer may seek clarification on the returned documentation. If no contraventions are noted, the Environmental Health Officer will contact the tenant to confirm that they have no concerns regarding the condition of their property.
- If contraventions of the Regulations are noted, an Improvement Letter will be issued to the landlord, detailing the contraventions and allowing a period of time within which the contraventions must be attended to.
- Once the works are completed, the landlord (or their representative) contacts the Environmental Health Officer to confirm same.
- The tenant will be contacted by the Environmental Health Officer to confirm that the works have been completed and that they have no further concerns regarding the condition of their property.
- If the landlord does not engage with the Virtual Inspection process, or disengages from the process at any point, the Environmental Health Officer will carry out a live streaming (video call) inspection or a physical inspection of the property.
- As a Quality Control measure, the Environmental Health Section are actively carrying out random verification checks on a selection of properties which were inspected and deemed to be compliant with the regulations by virtual inspection. These inspections are arranged directly with the tenant of the property.
- The tenant will be contacted and requested to facilitate a live streaming (video call) inspection with an Environmental Health Officer.
- The live streaming (video call) inspection will take place over a readily available application via mobile device
- As with a physical inspection, during the live streaming (video call) inspection, the Environmental Health Officer will request the tenant to show them various areas of their home
- The Environmental Health Officer will make written notes during the live streaming (video call) inspection
- Recording of the call, either by video or photograph, is not permitted for either party to the call
- If contraventions of the Regulations are noted, an Improvement Letter will be issued to the landlord, detailing the contraventions and allowing a period of time within which the contraventions must be attended to.
- Once the works are completed, the landlord (or their representative) contacts the Environmental Health Officer to confirm same.
- The tenant will be contacted by the Environmental Health Officer to confirm that the works have been completed and that they have no further concerns regarding the condition of their property.
- If the landlord does not remedy any identified contraventions, the Environmental Health Officer will carry out a physical inspection of the property.
- As a Quality Control measure, the Environmental Health Section are actively carrying out random verification checks on a selection of properties which were inspected and deemed to be compliant with the regulations by Live Streaming Video Call inspection. These inspections are arranged directly with the tenant of the property.
- The Tenant or Landlord will be contacted either by telephone, email or letter to arrange an inspection of the private rented property.
- If the appointment time or date does not suit, please contact the Environmental Health Section as soon as possible to reschedule.
- The Environmental Health Officer will attend your home during the appointed time to carry out an inspection. Access to all rooms should be provided at the time of the inspection.
- As part of the inspection, the Environmental Health Officer will take written notes and photographs.
- Where contraventions to the Regulations are noted, an Improvement Letter or Improvement Notice may be served. An Improvement Letter and an Improvement Notice details the works to be completed by the landlord within a prescribed time frame. Failure to complete these works may result in an escalation of enforcement proceedings, for example from an Improvement Letter to an Improvement Notice or from an Improvement Notice to a Prohibition Notice and legal proceedings being issued in respect of the property.
As the Covid- 19 pandemic continues to affect our daily lives, a number of additional precautions are being employed in order to ensure your safety and the safety of the Environmental Health Officer during an inspection.
- Prior to inspections the Environmental Health Officer will either contact the tenant by telephone, or confirm in person before entering the property, that there is;
- no positive Covid-19 case in the household,
- no person self-isolating
- no person displaying symptoms of Covid-19 at the household.
- Some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be worn by the Environmental Health Officer at the time of the inspection.
- Hand sanitiser will be applied by the Environmental Health Officer at intervals throughout the inspection and between inspections.
- For the duration of the inspection, occupants should wear a face covering, where possible.
- If it is safe to do so, please ensure that all windows to the property are opened and remain open for the duration of the inspection. This is to facilitate adequate ventilation during the inspection.
The Environmental Health Section does not have any remit in the area of Landlord and Tenant disputes and cannot facilitate mediation services between Landlords and Tenants. The Residential tenancies board can assist you with this matter