There are calls for more rental inspections after a fall in the number of properties checked last year.
New figures from the National Oversight and Audit Commission show 6.7% of registered rental tenancies in Ireland were inspected in 2020.
Of those which were checked, 93% did not meet minimum standards.
The areas with the highest rates of non-compliance were Carlow County, Cavan County, Galway City, Kilkenny County, Laois County, as well as Waterford City and County.
All of those areas had a 100% non-compliance rate of the properties checked.
The best performing local area was Monaghan County, which had a compliance rate of 55.1%.
When the study was carried out, there were 334,588 properties registered as rental tenancies nationally.
🏠 Shocking figures from the National Oversight and Audit Commission on rental inspections in 2020.
- 6.7% of rental properties inspected last year.
- 93% of those were non-compliant with standards regulations.— Ben Finnegan (@_BenFinnegan) October 4, 2021
Just 22,517 were checked during that period, meaning there were still more than 300,000 properties unchecked.
Just 7,400 rental properties nationally were compliant with 2020 Standards Regulations.
"The fact that standards need to be met is really important," says Lorcan Sirr, a Housing Lecturer at the Technological University of Dublin.
"So the standards would cover things like, making sure gas, oil and electricity were safe. That's there's adequate ventilation for health and drying.
"And that lighting and heating are safe and in place. Also, ensuring carbon monoxide alarms and smoke alarms [are working] is really important.
"So to see such low inspection rates - 6.7% inspected - is a bit disappointing."
