Most tenants are happy with landlords

RTE aired a Prime Time programme on May 10 outlining some dire conditions in the private rental sector, consisting of four cases of the most exceptional circumstances.

The impression was given that landlords all over Ireland are providing sub-standard accommodation, ignoring the real fact that landlords in Ireland provide 600,000 people with homes, over 95% of which are good quality and affordable.

There are 250,000 tenancies registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), 145,000 landlords and up to 600,000 tenants.

There were 2,230 complaints lodged with the PRTB according to the latest available report (2010) — 59% by tenants, 37% by landlords, 4% others. This shows that less than 1% of registered tenancies have a difficulty and 1/3 of these cases are either settled, withdrawn by applicants, or deemed withdrawn due to non-response from applicants.

Stephen Faughnan

Chairman Irish Property Owners Association

Ashtown Business Centre

Navan Road

Dublin 15