UCC area residents call for investigative unit to identify unregistered rental properties

'Relying on landlords to self regulate on a 2014 statutory requirement is clearly not working,' said Association chairperson Catherine Clancy

Last month, the Magazine Road and Surrounding Areas Residents Association carried out a check of private 270 rental properties around UCC and found that more than a third were not registered with the RTB. File Picture

A group of residents living around University College Cork (UCC) have called on the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to set up specialised a unit to identify and investigate unregistered privately rented properties.

Last month, the Magazine Road and Surrounding Areas Residents Association carried out a check of 270 private rental properties around UCC and found that 100 appeared not to have been registered with the RTB.

The residents said that of this 100, 67 were first highlighted to the RTB in 2017. The group say this is the fifth time in seven years they have documented such levels of apparent non-registration of properties in the area.

In 2014, legislation was introduced requiring all privately rented properties to be registered with the RTB. According to guidelines on the RTB website, it is the landlord’s duty to ensure they are fully compliant with this requirement.

Members of the residents' association confirmed they had met with RTB representatives on Monday and discussed a file of unregistered properties they had sent to the RTB last September.

The residents also say they were told that, at present, the RTB does not have a system in place to proactively investigate and identify unregistered privately rented properties, instead relying on landlords to volunteer to register themselves and/or act on third-party complaints.

"Relying on landlords to self-regulate on a 2014 statutory requirement is clearly not working," said the association's chairperson Catherine Clancy. Ms Clancy added that the non-compliance of landlords "has serious consequences for tenants' security of tenure, neighbours and the local community."

"This results in a closed door or long delays in resolving issues, with the RTB failing in it’s duty of care to us as a third party and in its failure to fulfil its statutory obligations," she said.

A spokesperson for the RTB told the Irish Examiner that it was now considering the points raised in the meeting and would respond to the Magazine Road and Surrounding Areas Residents Association "directly in due course".

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"The RTB is committed to being a regulator that works in the public interest."

The spokesperson also said that residents were briefed at the meeting on the main points of the new RTB strategy, which is currently in the final stages of development. 

"Part of this strategy is the RTB commitment to a process of ongoing organisation development to support improvement and consistent delivery of quality services," the spokesperson added.

"The RTB also highlighted the plan regarding our Regulatory Risk Framework which when implemented will provide clarity and escalation pathways where landlords are non-compliant with their obligations," the spokesperson added.