I am going to very slightly deviate from the consensus so far on this. I have no strong view on whether a 'rental NCT' is a good thing or not. **
But if it is a good idea, this dreadful bill is certainly not the way to implement it. The drafting of this bill is extraordinary - not in a good way. To take one example:
A landlord of a rented dwelling shall: ....
(b) ensure that certification is based on an independent inspection by a suitably qualified professional from the relevant local authority;
What does this mean?
What if the 'local authority professional' turns out to have worked for the builder\developer of a rental unit in the past (therefore lacking independence) is it going to be the landlord's responsibility to police this? How?
What if it turns out that the 'local authority professional' is not suitably qualified. Will this legislation somehow make the landlord liable?
Are we contemplating a situation in which the landlord must interview the 'local authority professional' before letting them inspect?
Will tenants be able to sue their landlords for not policing the qualifications of the local authority?
It's all nonsense.
To take another example, the contemplated amendment is specifically to enable the Minister to make regulations which will force landlords to
prove their compliance with minimum standards and fire safety standards, as per the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003,
Why the specificity? Are these the only acts which are relevant to housing standards?? Or do they mean minimum standards from anywhere and fire safety standards from these two acts only? Does this mean that a new fire safety act will have the knock-on effect of making the 'rental NCT' amendment out of date? This act would be immensely improved by simply removing .as per the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003,
Sinn Fein is a party which has justifiable aspirations to govern. Their polling numbers are real.
I accept of course that this is just a bill as initiated. I would not expect it to get through the legislative process in its current form. (and of course, the obviously necessary amendments may give the opportunity to grandstand to the effect that the proposed amendments are seeking to 'water down' the obligations on landlords - who knows, maybe that is part of the strategy).
The drafting of laws is not a trivial task. It requires careful consideration and proper draftsmanship. Lawyers will have multiple field days with legislation of this quality if Sinn Fein, when in government, do not up their game in terms of quality control.
** I have given it some more thought. I am essentially a believer in free markets but perhaps with more regulation than the consensus view. Our national tendency toward 'light touch' regulation has not worked out well in many areas and this has influenced my views over the years.
However, the quality of our rental stock is unlikely to be improved by this measure, in this or any flavour, and the societal costs will almost certainly far outweigh the societal benefits. So I could have shortened this post considerably to a simple "yup, it's a bad plan".
