Private rental inspections
All private rental accommodation must meet certain standards to protect the health and wellbeing of tenants. Local authorities carry out inspections of private rental accommodation to ensure it meets the required standards.
These standards include:
- The house or apartment must be in a proper state of structural repair.
- There must be exclusive access to sanitary facilities (bathrooms) contained within the same house or apartment.
- Each room must have fixed appliances capable of providing effective heating.
- There must be adequate facilities for storing, preparing, and cooking food hygienically, and you must be able to access these facilities within the house/apartment.
- There must be adequate ventilation, and this must be maintained in good repair and working order.
- There must be natural lighting in each habitable room, and adequate artificial lighting (lightbulbs) must be provided in each habitable room (it is not necessary that halls, stairs, and landings have natural lighting, but they should have adequate artificial lighting).
- There must be adequate fire safety measures in place.
- There must be access to suitable pest and vermin-proof refuse storage facilities (bins).
- Any gas, oil and electricity installations must be maintained in good repair and safe working order.
The local authority may identify properties in need of rental inspections. Members of the public can also raise concerns about rental properties to the local authority which can lead to a rental inspection.
If a property is found to not meet the standards, an improvement notice may be served detailing the works to be completed by the landlord within a set period of time. Failure to complete these works may lead to enforcement proceedings.