Everyone of a certain age remembers student "bed-sits" in Dublin and how basic they were, with electricity in danger of cutting out unless the unfortunate occupant had a two-shilling piece to put in the meter. Those days are gone, thankfully, but the problem of unfit housing persists, as shown by the inspections of more than 6,300 low-quality flats carried out over the past three years by Dublin City Council.
Almost 90 per cent failed to meet minimum housing standards, even for fire safety. Defects included exposed live electrical wiring in bathrooms, scorched wall sockets, broken fire and smoke alarms as well as broken windows, cracks in walls, plaster falling from ceilings, rooms with no windows and inadequate heating, cooking and laundry facilities.
The council’s inspection programme targeted slum-like housing on 39 streets in traditional “flatland” areas, all of which pre-dated the 1963 Planning Act that made it illegal to subdivide a house without planning permission. Almost three-quarters of the units inspected were brought up to standard, prohibition notices were issued to the owners of non-compliant properties and legal action taken against more than 100 landlords.
All of this has been happening in the context of a major housing crisis, which has resulted in more than 700 families – including 1,570 children – being made homeless. The Irish Property Owners Association, which represents landlords, has called for a relaxation of standards for private rented accommodation, including allowing bed-sits that don't have their own bathrooms, as a means of addressing the crisis. But this would be a retrograde step, effectively giving the stamp of approval to substandard "apartments".
Only a rapid increase in the supply of housing offers any real hope of ameliorating the current shortage. Reducing standards, as Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has done in relation to apartment design, represents a false economy that will take its toll in future years, with both renters and owner-occupiers facing the consequences of a short-termist approach.