More than 96% of rental properties inspected by Cork County Council below standard

More than 96% of private rented properties inspected by Cork County Council over the past two years failed to meet minimum standards.

Officials from Cork County Council visited 481 properties in 2021, 96% of which failed the initial inspection due primarily to structural issues, ventilation, and fire safety.

Despite this high failure rate, no rental properties were deemed by the council to be unsuitable for letting.

Landlords whose properties failed to meet minimum standards for rental were issued what are known as “improvement letters”, essentially a list of improvements necessary to pass inspection and a timeline in which to carry them out.

The most common reasons for failure were inadequate ventilation, damaged window and door handles, mould and mildew, a lack of heating facilities in all rooms, a lack of smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, fire blankets, carbon monoxide alarms, evacuation plans, and window restrictors, and a lack of certification of electrical systems and/or gas appliances.

According to figures published by the Residential Tenancies Board in 2020, there are 32,926 private rental properties in Co Cork, with an estimated 20,000 of those located in Cork City.

With only 481 private rental properties being checked by Cork County Council in 2021, the county has an inspection rate of just under 4%.

In 2020, officials from Cork County Council inspected 756 private rental properties, amounting to an inspection rate of just under 6%.

Of the 756 properties inspected by the council in 2020, 98% failed to meet minimum standards, and none were deemed unsuitable for renting.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Echo that “it should be noted that inspection activity was severely curtailed in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic”.

Sinn Féin councillor Danielle Twomey, representing East Cork, said she deals with a lot of people complaining about substandard rental properties.

“We have such a low supply of rental properties available that people are taking properties because there’s nothing else there, and people are afraid then to rock the boat,” Ms Twomey said.

“Once an inspection takes place, there sometimes isn’t a lot of follow-up, and that is a resourcing issue.

“The system is deeply flawed, but I would stress that the council staff I deal with, despite operating under resourcing and budgetary constraints, are excellent.”

Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen, representing the Cobh area, said the figures speak for themselves, and the failure rate was deeply worrying.

“Some landlords seem to feel they have the market cornered and are very slow to address concerns. The low inspection rate is due to a resource issue coming from central government,” Mr Rasmussen said.