Council Inspection on home for HAP tenant - small time landlord

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NellS82

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Hi, I'm new to AAM
hope someone can help
anyone experience of council inspection of HAP property in Dublin.
is it a frequent thing?
more than once per tenancy unusual?
am a landlord been given a report with a list of v small but could be expensive issues
- my position is I can't afford them
- they are wear and tear mainly like a discoloured wall , flaking paint etc
- the letter includes threats of enforcement and fines , even prison!
- the home is 100% safe nothing that is going to harm anyone - no damp nothing
- can I challenge the report?
 
The councils are trying to inspect every four years, but given you have been inspected they will probably follow up to ensure the items have been completed.

You can challenge that the inspector highlighted items that are not covered by current legislation. So if they have erred in law you will win your challenge. That is why there are so many enforcements, fines etc, they are just warning you about what is in the legislation. Because this is all laid down in law, it should be taken seriously.

I would not think the council would consider inability to pay an excuse for a substandard house for a HAP tenant.
 
thanks for the reply. It's not substandard though that's what is puzzling. It's a great house. Fitted all the health & safety things they wanted under the last inspection now they want what looks like wear and tear stuff done.
would they take me down a legal process over discoloured paint ?
 
NellS82 said:
thanks for the reply. It's not substandard though that's what is puzzling. It's a great house. Fitted all the health & safety things they wanted under the last inspection now they want what looks like wear and tear stuff done.
would they take me down a legal process over discoloured paint ?
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I had similar some years ago, I did some of the things that they asked, the ones I considered reasonable, and the cheap things, you can afford paint.

I worked around one potentially major item, the report said the open fire needed work due to the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, rather than spend a fortune on remedial work I blocked up the fireplace.

On a number of other points I didn't like I wrote back to them asking them to identify where in the legislation the item was required, (I had done some research I was fairly sure it wasn't), I never heard from them again.
 
I noticed they kept inspecting a house I was renting but never inspected the neighbours houses rented out by family members of mine. I questioned the council why they kept inspecting my property when I met their requirements on previous inspections. I made a complaint to the council and the inspections stopped. I think the person who inspected your property must think the discoloured paint is a sign of damp or mold. You might have to prove it is not.
 
cremeegg said:
I had similar some years ago, I did some of the things that they asked, the ones I considered reasonable, and the cheap things, you can afford paint.

I worked around one potentially major item, the report said the open fire needed work due to the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, rather than spend a fortune on remedial work I blocked up the fireplace.

On a number of other points I didn't like I wrote back to them asking them to identify where in the legislation the item was required, (I had done some research I was fairly sure it wasn't), I never heard from them again.
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Great, thank you.
 
NellS82 said:
would they take me down a legal process over discoloured paint ?
Click to expand...
As above, discoloured and flaking paint is usually an indicator of bigger issues. The standards for rental property are quite onerous, but they're there for a reason.

The Council can fine you, or stop the HAP payments until all issues are resolved to their satisfaction.
 
NellS82 said:
Hi, I'm new to AAM
hope someone can help
anyone experience of council inspection of HAP property in Dublin.
is it a frequent thing?
more than once per tenancy unusual?
am a landlord been given a report with a list of v small but could be expensive issues
- my position is I can't afford them
- they are wear and tear mainly like a discoloured wall , flaking paint etc
- the letter includes threats of enforcement and fines , even prison!
- the home is 100% safe nothing that is going to harm anyone - no damp nothing
- can I challenge the report?
Click to expand...
In over +/- 30 years renting in 2 cities - not Dublin - I was not informed of inspection until the last couple of years. Same for a parent and sibling. This is despite having corporation tenants and Hap tenancies and non Hap/council tenancies.

The councils got their act together and appointed outside agents to inspect. They started with the Hap tenancies. Once those were done they stared on the rest. I assume they are working off an RTB list for the non Hap (in my case one house had 2 HAP and one non HAP, so they wrote me letters for the 2 Hap ones. As I was selling I informed them and that was the end of it).

What they do is the inspector comes in and works off a check list. They will then send you a letter telling you what needs to be done. They follow up on it. Things like smoke alarms, heaters in bathrooms, vents etc etc.

The 'threats' etc is just standard civil servant designed letters to scare you. Same as the way revenue talks to people. Could you please copy paste your list of issues on here.

No do not challenge the report, just play the game.

If I were told to fix flaky paint and didn't want to, I might say something like:

The house was fully painted in 2022 and does not currently need painting, it will be painted again in 2025.

Discoloured wall and flaky paint with no damp sunds nit picking to me. An agent in need of job justification really.

And of course they council/corpo's own properties are pristine.



On a side note, you seem tight for cash, what is the issue there?
 
Tadaima said:
I noticed they kept inspecting a house I was renting but never inspected the neighbours houses rented out by family members of mine. I questioned the council why they kept inspecting my property when I met their requirements on previous inspections. I made a complaint to the council and the inspections stopped. I think the person who inspected your property must think the discoloured paint is a sign of damp or mold. You might have to prove it is not.
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Same with Revenue and VAT. They need numbers, of inspections, you ended up getting landed. Agent needs say 10 cases a week and didn't want to bother, so used you again knowing full well you comply.
 
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NellS82 said:
Hi, I'm new to AAM
hope someone can help
anyone experience of council inspection of HAP property in Dublin.
is it a frequent thing?
more than once per tenancy unusual?
am a landlord been given a report with a list of v small but could be expensive issues
- my position is I can't afford them
- they are wear and tear mainly like a discoloured wall , flaking paint etc
- the letter includes threats of enforcement and fines , even prison!
- the home is 100% safe nothing that is going to harm anyone - no damp nothing
- can I challenge the report?
Click to expand...
I did get a letter from the council because my home was previously rented and noticed it was for a third party company to come and inspect. I mentioned it to a friend who is on HAP and she said that usually these days these inspections are more cooperative with the tenant and ask is there is anything they want to point out. Unless it is really bad, because they realise that sending a long shopping list to a landlord might trigger an eviction the tenant and indeed the council if tenant is subsidised, will not want to happen. She usually says, look everything is fine, and the inspector writes a basic report.
Yes, I know its probably illegal but honestly unless the house is in very poor condition its unlikely they will try to test everything.
 
Leo said:
As above, discoloured and flaking paint is usually an indicator of bigger issues. The standards for rental property are quite onerous, but they're there for a reason.

The Council can fine you, or stop the HAP payments until all issues are resolved to their satisfaction.
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Well not exactly - I rented a place for 11 years which had been just freshly painted, but after 11 years the paintwork was pretty grubby. Unless the tenant is expected to repaint the place at their own expense (and I don't think they are), I would expect paintwork to be peeling after 11 years.
 
lff12 said:
I would expect paintwork to be peeling after 11 years.
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Grubby yes, worn in high contact areas yes, but flaking or peeling to any significant extent is a sign of a bigger issue that is causing the break down of the bond. The primary cause is damp, but also contamination of the surface prior to painting that impairs the cure process.
 
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