Failure to comply with the minimum standards can result in penalties and prosecution.
South Dublin County Council can issue Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices to landlords who breach the minimum standards Regulations.
An Improvement Notice sets out the works that the landlord must carry out to remedy a breach of the Regulations. If the landlord does not do these works, South Dublin County Council may issue a Prohibition Notice, directing the landlord not to re-let the property until the breach of the Regulations has been rectified.
Where a landlord re-lets a private rented house in breach of a Prohibition Notice, they may be prosecuted and on conviction, may be subject to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, along with a daily fine of €400 for a continuing offence (together with orders for the costs and expenses of the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence, which may be considerable).
Prohibition Notices were served on the following properties under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, as inserted by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009:-
- Apartment 44A Harelawn Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- 43 Wheatfield Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- 24 Barton Drive, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14