Proposed ‘NCT-type certification’ for landlords broadly supported by Minister

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said he is broadly supportive of establishing an NCT-style system for private rental properties.

The approach, advocated for by the housing charity Threshold, would see landlords having to undergo standards inspections every four years.

A certificate would then be required as part of the registration process with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

“I would be broadly supportive, frankly,” Mr O’Brien said of the suggestion at a Threshold event on Thursday.

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“In relation to standards and quality, an NCT-type certification would be something that I am positively disposed to.”

The Minister qualified that support, however, by saying any regulatory measures must be considered in the context of the need to attract and maintain private accommodation in the rental market.

“We have got to be careful that [such measures] don’t have any unintended consequences. If we look at the flight of individual landlords from the market because of rising house prices, also, some will say, because of what they see [as] over regulation,” he said.

Mr O’Brien explained that while the Government has stepped in with controls, specifically citing a 2 per cent rent cap, other proposals such as indefinite eviction bans held potential risk.

“There is some things that, the effect that those would have would be to diminish supply even further. I am really focused on getting that supply up.”

The Minister was addressing housing policy and supply progress at Threshold’s launch of its 2022 tenant sentiment survey titled We are Generation Rent.

In the next two weeks, the Department of Housing will begin to take applications for its first-home shared-equity scheme which the Minister said would help bridge the affordability gap in purchasing homes, by the State taking a share in the property.

Dr Aideen Hayden, chairwoman of Threshold’s policy and research group, said tenants often felt trapped in the rental market.

“The vast majority [surveyed] wanted to own their own homes. There are two issues there; one obviously relates to security, but another issue relates to the fact that people feel that by owning and having a stake in something, they have a stake in society,” she said.

Threshold’s research showed that only 14 per cent of renters choose to rent, and that 62 per cent are unable to afford a home of their own.

The insecurity of renting was also highlighted with almost half saying they do not feel secure in their homes, particularly one-parent families.

More than a quarter of renters said they moved out of their last home because they were evicted, mainly due to the wish of owners to sell the property.

Ann-Marie O’Reilly, Threshold’s policy officer, said the high rate of churn in the sector gives people little chance to settle down or to integrate into a community.

“It can lead to loneliness, isolation and it can be particularly difficult for children if they have to move schools or [are] forced into a long commute to school or forced to move away from friends.”

Local authorities have since been given powers to purchase such homes with tenants in situ, a move welcomed by the charity.