Landlords inundate corporation with queries on new rules

DUBLIN Corporation has been "inundated" with requests from landlords for information on the new regulations requiring them to register their properties, which came into force yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the corporation said that 5,000 forms had already been given out, representing one sixth of the estimated 30,000 privately rented housing units in the city.

About 150 completed forms, with the appropriate fees of £40 per unit, have been completed and returned so far. "We're very pleased with the response from landlords. Most of them are being very co operative and want to do the right thing, to have it sorted out as quickly as possible."

But the Irish Property Owners' Association, which claims to represent 2,000 landlords, said its members were refusing to comply with "this unfair and dangerous legislation". The IPOA spokesman, Mr Fintan McNamara, described it as an "irresponsible piece of bureaucracy".

It was likely that the annual inspection fee would be passed on to tenants by landlords, who were "already reeling under escalating public liability and other costs," he said.

Thus Ms Liz McManus, Minister of State for Housing, had effectively introduced a "tax on tenants."

Last month, however, Ms McManus stressed that registration would give substantial additional protection to tenants.

Dublin Corporation's spokeswoman pointed out that landlords had two months to comply with the regulations. The income - a potential £1.2 million annually, if every landlord in the city registered - would be used to administer the scheme, which includes annual inspections by environmental health officers.