Almost 94% of private rental properties inspected by Kerry County Council last year did not meet required standards by law.
That’s according to figures from the Department of Housing, on the enforcement of minimum standards in rented accommodation.
Inspections of private rented accommodation are carried out by local authorities, in Kerry’s case by Kerry County Council, to enforce the minimum standards required by law in rental properties.
These standards are set out in the Housing (Standard for Rented Housing) Regulations 2019.
General standards include that the property does not have damp, and must be structurally sound internally and externally.
Last year, Kerry County Council inspected 1,035 dwellings but made a total of 1,172 inspections, meaning some properties were inspected more than once.
Of these 1,035 properties inspected, 970 did not meet regulatory requirements on the first inspection, which is just under 94%.
1,043 letters were sent to landlords in Kerry last year for improvements to be carried out on their rental properties.
No improvement notices, prohibition notices, or legal action was initiated in Kerry last year, meaning that there was no escalation in these cases.
An Improvement Notice outlines what the landlord must do to fix the breach of regulations.
If the landlord does not do these works, the local authority can issue a Prohibition Notice, which tells the landlord not to re-let the property until they fix the breach in regulations.
The total number of inspections carried out by Kerry County Council last year was at its highest level since 2019.
