Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017
The new Regulations entitled the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 17/2017) came into force on the 1st of July 2017. All rental properties have to be in compliant with these standards.
Main Provisions of the new Regulations:
The main changes to the 2009 Regulations are contained in those provisions dealing with structural condition, heating facilities and fire safety, – Articles 4, 7 and 10.
• Article 4 amends the regulations to include the provision:
Where a window which has an opening section through which a person may fall and the bottom of the opening section is more than 1400mm above the external ground level, suitable safety restrictors shall be fitted.
• Article 6 provides that:
All bathrooms and shower rooms must have adequate heating, the revised regulations also make a provision for the detection and alarm of carbon monoxide and that all heating appliances shall be maintained in a safe condition and in good working order and repair.
• Article 10 has been reworded in order to avoid confusion around the need for interconnecting alarms and regulations covering common areas.
Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2017
July 2014
All properties let must comply with the Housing Standards for Rented Houses Regulations.
At a recent presentation, Colm Smyth from Dublin City Council, stated that quite a high percentage of properties in Dublin fail in respect of the fire requirements.
These requirements from S.I. 462 of 2009 are as follows:
Fire Safety
11. (1) Subject to sub-article (2), the house shall contain a fire blanket and either a mains-wired smoke alarm or at least two 10-year selfcontained
battery-operated smoke alarms.
(2) Each self-contained house in a multi-unit building shall contain a mains-wired smoke alarm, a fire blanket and an emergency
evacuation plan.
(3) Emergency lighting shall be provided in all common areas within a multi-unit building.”
You are in breach of the housing standards for rented houses if you let traditional bedsits; these are bedsits that do not have a bathroom within the unit. I
Sanitary Facilities
6. (1) There shall be provided within the habitable area of the house, for the exclusive use of the house:
(a) A watercloset, with dedicated wash hand basin adjacent thereto with a continuous supply of cold water and a facility for the piped
supply of hot water, and
(b) A fixed bath or shower with continuous supply of cold water and a facility for the piped supply of hot water.
(2) The requirements of sub-article (1) shall:
(i) be maintained in good working order;
(ii) have safe and effective means of drainage;
(iii) be properly insulated and secured;
(iv) have minimum capacity requirements for hot and cold water
storage facilities;
(v) be provided in a room separated from other rooms by a wall and a door and containing separate ventilation.
To check that your property is up to standard a copy of the current standards are attached S.I. No. 534 of 2008 Housing Standards outlines the obligations and these standards were updated in S.I. No 462 of 2009 Housing Standards for Rented Houses. You need to read these two together.
A technical guidance document was also produced for SI No. 534 of 2008 which is attached Technical Guidance Document for Statutory Instrument No 534 of 2008