Serious safety concerns raised over Limerick houses

SERIOUS safety concerns have been identified during council inspections of private homes in the city, the Limerick Leader can reveal.

Exposed wires, mould and damp, cracked windows plus heaters and ovens not working are among the issues council inspectors have raised with landlords.

Private homes which council lets out to tenants on its housing waiting list are legally required to meet safety standards.

Information given to councillors showed that only 4% of homes inspected were compliant on first inspection.

Now, in response to a Freedom of Information request from this newspaper, the council has revealed a range of problems in houses in Limerick.

In a number of housing inspections, it’s shown that at least one window has an opening section through which a person might fall.

The council has warned there is a risk a person may fall out of one of these openings, and has asked the landlord to fit safety restrictors.

Heaters in bathrooms and bedrooms were reported as not working, while leaks were reported in kitchens and living rooms.

In one case, a freezer was not being provided to tenants.

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In another, exposed wires were in place where light fittings had been removed.

A fire blanket was not provided in one kitchen that council staff inspected, while in a top-floor flat, the landlord was ordered to replace “cracked, leaking windows.”

Council released a selection of the 615 inspections it did on houses across Limerick.

The addresses of the houses were not revealed for data protection purposes.

One second inspection at a property identified a large number of issues.

These included missing kitchen drawers, no access to a clothes dryer, mould on walls and an oven not working.

While there were safety issues, council also ordered a landlord to remove two sofas -as the leather cover was flaking off, paint a front door, which it deems to be “in poor decorative condition”.

The landlord at the same address was ordered to replace the wallpaper in the lounge for the same reason as well as provide a dishwasher.

Labour councillor Conor Sheehan, who asked the initial question which led to the disclosure that only4% of homes had passed inspection said: “It’s shocking but not surprising, but consistent with the picture around the country.”

Now is the time, he said, for government to stop relying on private landlords to tackle the housing crisis.