LOCAL AUTHORITIES MUST PRIORITISE INSPECTION OF OLDER SUB STANDARD PRIVATE RENTED DWELLINGS

Posted on November 22, 2012 2:28 PM   |   Permanent Link   

This Bill seeks to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 and 2009 and Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Its objective is to streamline and simplify those Acts and reduce delays in the dispute resolution service of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB). The Bill makes provision for the inclusion, within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Acts, of tenancies in the voluntary and co-operative housing sector.

The issues of rent arrears and deposit retention are not addressed in the Bill (as published) but the Minister of State, Jan O'Sullivan, has signalled her intention to include these at a later stage in the legislative process. I warmly welcome this initiative.

In their 2011 Annual Report, Threshold state that they dealt with over 3000 cases involving the retention of deposits. Deposits may only be retained by landlords in limited circumstances, namely rent arrears, outstanding utility bills or damage to the property above normal wear and tear.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a rent deposit scheme and legislation is currently before the Dáil to follow through on this important policy goal. The Minister of State for Housing and Planning has signalled her intention to examine the findings of a Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) commissioned report, into the viability of a deposit protection scheme. That report has been published at this stage. The report examines the options for a deposit protection scheme.

Over the coming weeks, the options in the report will consider the best way to offer the greatest protection to tenants in this area. This will be done at the least cost to the Exchequer. These are complex issues, but to deliver on deposit protection in the context of the current Bill is important. Deposit Protection Schemes (DPS) exist in a number of countries, such as England, Wales and New Zealand. In DP schemes, the deposit is paid to a third party and retained until the end of the tenancy.

This Bill will amend certain provisions of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2009 which govern the private rental sector, as well as the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

One of the PRTB's most important functions is the provision of a dispute resolution service which mediates disputes between landlords and tenants, outside of the court system. The largest category of cases referred by landlords to the PRTB relate to rent arrears (31% in 2010), while most cases referred by tenants relate to deposit retention (72% in 2010).

Decisions made through the dispute resolutions service are legally binding. Increasing demands have been placed on the dispute resolution service in recent years. This has resulted in determination orders taking as long as 8 months to be delivered. Two of the Bill's aims are to speed up the dispute resolution service provided by the PRTB; and bring the voluntary and co-operative housing sector under the governance of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. A study carried out in 2011 by the Housing Agency looked at the implications of bringing the voluntary and co-operative housing sector under the remit of the PRTB. The report identified two potential issues; an increase in the workload of the PRTB, whose staff numbers are being reduced, as well as the affordability of paying registration fees for the Approved Housing Bodies.

It is also intended that the Minister of State will address the issue of non-payment of rent by tenants who remain in situ. This, I understand, will be addressed at the Committee stage of the Bill.

The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established in September 2004. One of its main functions is, when called upon, to mediate disagreements between landlords and tenants. When a landlord takes on a new tenant they must, by law, register the tenancy with the PRTB and include the names and details of the tenants. The landlord pays the PRTB a fee per tenancy. There is, I believe, a level of non compliance in this area which must be addressed and I would ask the Minister to consider this.

The most common complaints made by tenants are refusal of landlords to refund deposits - 72% of all cases taken by tenants in 2010 concerned this. The most common landlord complaints are "rent arrears and breach of other tenancy obligations - 68% of all cases taken by landlords were regarding this. Orders made by the PRTB are legally binding. If a landlord or tenant is dissatisfied with the decision of the Board then legal recourse to the High Court is permitted, but only on a point of law.

Initially the PRTB was funded by the Exchequer but it has been self-financing since 2010 and there are no plans for the Exchequer to provide additional funding in the future. From February 2009, properties for rent must meet new minimum physical standards as outlined in the Housing (Standard for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008. Each individual local authority decides on its enforcement strategy and inspection arrangements. The PRTB is currently entitled to retain 80% of the registration fee income to fund its activities, with 20% going to fund Local Authority inspections of private rented residential accommodation. It also retains the fees it charges for its dispute resolution services.

The Coolock based Northside Community Law Centre in its submission states that quite often the quality of housing in the private rented sector is poor. They quote Threshold, in saying that up to 78% of private rented property is sub-standard. The PRTB should interface more effectively with Local Authorities in enforcing standards and inspections by many Local Authorities are slow. If adequate resourcing is not provided, particularly in light of an increased workload, this issue will continue to be a significant problem. The number of inspections carried out by local authorities has been increasing in recent years. However, concerns have been expressed as to the outcome of the inspection process and how effectively it protects tenants.

In my experience local authorities do not use all of the 20% of the PRTB fees they receive for inspections, and instead use it for general housing expenditure and in my view only carry out inspections when particular private dwellings are brought to their attention. This has to change and a better system of inspections needs to be put in place by local authorities and, in particular, to inspect the older stock of private rented dwellings much of which is sub standard. I would ask the Minister to look at this.

The demand for the dispute resolution services of the PRTB has increased, while the staff numbers working in the PRTB have reduced. The 2010 Annual Report of the PRTB, stated that 2010 was a challenging year for the Disputes Resolution Service, with an unprecedented 2,230 dispute applications being received, representing an increase of 20% on the 2009 figure.

The report goes on to state that most of this increase was due to rent arrears complaints from landlords against tenants. However, it is stated also that deposit retention remains the largest overall cause of disputes. The largest category of cases referred by landlords relate to rent arrears (31% in 2010), while most cases brought forward by tenants relate to deposit retention (72% in 2010).

In 2010, 59% of applications for dispute resolution were from tenants, 37% from landlords and 4% from third parties.

From 2009 to 2010 there was a 93% increase in Tribunal hearings. Despite the increase, waiting times for a tribunal hearing have been reduced from 6-8 months in 2007 to 2-3 months in 2009 and 2010.

This legislation will further improve our system of tenant-landlord regulation. The measures that promote mediation in dispute resolution are particularly welcome. I firmly believe that mediation can give people in a dispute a speedy, effective way to resolve issues. The extension of the registration requirement to a large number of voluntary housing tenancies is also a major development. It is the first step in a process that will see statutory regulation of the voluntary and co-operative housing sector in the coming years. This will bring greater transparency and accountability to this important sector that is playing an increasingly active role in social housing provision.

Some provisions of this Bill aim to speed up the dispute resolution service. The Bill does this through the following measures:

(i) The Bill will amend Section 98(1) of the Principal Act, so that following a resolution reached by the parties themselves, each party will have 10 days (it is currently 21) to inform the mediator and board that they have changed their minds and no longer agree with the outcome of the mediation.
(ii) Section 16 of this Bill provides that the Board may not charge a fee for mediation services. This is to encourage the take-up of mediation in dispute resolutions. The current fee is €25.

(iii) Section 17 (1) will amend Section 95 (4) (c) of the Principal Act to allow for telephone mediations.

Settling disputes through conference calls may not be permissible.

(iv) Section 18 of this Bill, which will replace section 96 of the Principal Act, speeds up the mediation process by allowing a determination order to be made after 10 days, if there is agreement between both parties.

Housing associations, (also known as approved housing bodies, or AHBs) are non-profit organisations which provide housing for those who are in need and at affordable rent levels. In general they are companies limited by guarantee without a share capital. Approved status is given by the Minister under Section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992. While voluntary and co-operative housing is considered as one sector, there are important distinctions between the two; Voluntary housing is provided by non-profit organisations, while housing co-operatives are self-help and jointly-owned member/user associations or societies. The members share responsibility for their co-op and are represented on the management committees or boards of directors.

AHBs are not covered under the RTA. This means that tenants do not have the same rights as private sector tenants and their landlords cannot access the PRTB. If there is a dispute the only avenue open to either the landlord or tenant are the courts, which may be costly. This may be particularly so for social housing tenants, many of whom are in receipt of social welfare benefits.

One of the most significant aspects of the Bill before us here is the inclusion of dwellings let by approved housing bodies (AHBs) within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act. This will extend to the large majority of not-for-profit AHB sector the same range of tenant and landlord rights and obligations as pertain in the private rented sector.

I want to commend Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O'Sullivan, for the hard work she is doing in this area and also the excellent work done by Threshold in terms of the housing rights of the less well-off in society. I look forward to engagement with them on the housing reform agenda over the course of 2013.