Calls for NCT-style system after rented properties fail inspection

With over half of city private rented properties and 82 per cent of county rented properties failing local authority inspections,Threshold Galway is calling for an NCT-style inspection process to place more responsibility on landlords to ensure that their property meets the standards required.

This comes after the latest figures from the Environment Department revealed this week that close to 60 per cent of all private rental premises that were inspected by local authorities around the country last year failed basic minimum requirements. The Enforcement of Requirement for Standards and Rent Books 2013 figures show that four local authorities - county councils in Donegal, Louth, Offaly, and Limerick City Council - saw 100 per cent failure rates while other failures included Ballina Town Council (98 per cent), Fingal County Council (96 per cent), Longford County Council (91 per cent), and Cork County Council (90 per cent).

Of the city councils, Galway had the fewest number of inspections while nationally Galway County had the fourth lowest number of inspections. However, the failure rate of the properties inspected is still of some concern. Of the 164 properties inspected by Galway City Council 56 per cent failed to reach the minimum standard while 82 per cent of the 104 properties inspected by Galway County Council failed the inspection. In the county 86 notices were served on landlords for improvements to be carried out while 47 of these dwellings had no rent book and 41 notices were served in relation to this.

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Calls for NCT-style system after rented properties fail inspection

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