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Private rented housing

The Residential Tenancies Board, (RTB), is an agency, established by government, with statutory powers, to support the rental housing market and to resolve cheaply and speedily disputes without resort to the courts.  It is a legal requirement that all private residential tenancies are registered with the RTB, who are charged with maintaining a national register. Properties registered with the RTB are also subject to inspection by the Housing Authority.

The minimum standards prescribed for rented houses are contained in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019 (S.I. 137 of 2019). Landlords must comply with the housing standards. 

The Housing Acts 1966 to 2014 allocate responsibility to housing authorities for the enforcement of these regulations in their areas. Landlords must comply with the Guidelines for Housing Authorities in Implementation of Minimum Standards in Rented Accommodation, failure to comply may result in financial penalties and prosecution.

For each house let or available for letting, the landlord must ensure that the rental property is in a proper state of structural repair. This means that the landlord must maintain the property in a sound state, inside and out.

The landlord must provide:

  • A water closet with a dedicated wash hand basin with hot and cold water
  • A separate room, for the exclusive use of each rented unit, with a toilet, a washbasin and a fixed bath or shower with hot and cold water
  • A fixed heating appliance in each room, which is capable of providing effective heating and which the tenant can control
  • Where necessary, suitably located devices for the detection and alarm of carbon monoxide
  • Facilities for cooking and for the hygienic storage of food including, a 4-ring hob with oven and grill, fridge-freezer and microwave oven
  • Access to a washing machine
  • Access to a clothes-dryer if the rented unit does not have a private garden or yard
  • A smoke alarm and fire blanket
  • Access to vermin-proof and pest-proof refuse storage facilities

This list is not exhaustive. 
Please refer to both the regulations and to the guidelines for further requirements.

In multi-unit buildings, the landlord must provide each unit with a mains-wired smoke alarm; a fire blanket; and an emergency evacuation plan. There must also be emergency lighting in common areas. For full details of rented accommodation requirements, please refer to the regulations.

Page last reviewed: 28/07/23

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Contact

Private Rented Housing
Áras Contae an Chláir
Ennis
County Clare
(065) 6846557