Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal Noel Ahern is to review the regulations controlling the standard of private rented accommodation.
The review is to be carried out this year in consultation with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) with a view to updating the standards.
Regulations in this area, including the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993, are recognised as being inadequate.
Under them landlords are not required to provide tenants with a cooker or central heating.
Last year local authorities inspected only 6,815 out of an estimated 150,000 rented properties, and 19 local authorities failed to carry out any inspections at all.
They will be asked to set targets for inspection of accommodation to the end of 2007, and make returns on inspection activity on a quarterly rather than on an annual basis.
They will also be asked to notify the community welfare service where they find seriously substandard accommodation.
The Minister is also considering including the inspection of private rented accommodation among local authority service indicators.
Local authorities and the PRTB will promote awareness of tax reliefs for the refurbishment and repair of accommodation.
The PRTB will also be asked to improve its supply of information to the public on private rented accommodation standards.
Meanwhile, in a report to be published today, Threshold, the national housing organisation, has called on the Government to introduce new minimum-standards legislation for the private rented sector.
Threshold's annual report 2005 shows that appeals for help to the organisation from tenants living in unfit accommodation doubled last year, from 386 in 2004 to 785 in 2005.
The report says some tenants are not supplied with hot and cold running water, are living in windowless rooms and are enduring mould-covered walls and vermin infestation.
The report argues that the introduction of new regulations is only one part of the problem because current legislation is not being enforced.
Aideen Hayden, chairwoman of Threshold, said diners who could afford to eat in a restaurant were better protected by quality standards and inspections than a family on low income living in a rented home.
