Purpose of the Charter

Our Functions

AHBRA has responsibility for several functions, including to:

• establish and maintain a register of AHBs
• register persons as AHBs
• prepare draft standards for approval by the Minister and publish
• monitor and assess compliance by AHBs
• carry out investigations under Part 5 (of the Act)
• under Part 6 (of the Act) protect tenants and AHBs and cancel the registration of AHBs
• encourage and facilitate the better governance, administration and management including corporate governance and financial management, of AHBs
• promote awareness and understanding of the Act
• collect such information concerning AHBs as the Regulator considers necessary and appropriate for the purposes of the performance of the Regulator’s functions,
• publish such information (including statistical information) concerning AHBs as the Regulator considers appropriate.

Our Customers

AHBRA has a broad range of internal and external customers/stakeholders that we engage with as we carry out our functions. These customers include:

• AHBs
• AHB representative organisations
• Local Authorities
• Financial lenders
• Other regulatory bodies
• The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• Other government departments and committees

Our Values

AHBRA has published a Statement of Strategy setting out our key objectives and values. In accordance with these values, we are committed to delivering a quality customer service to all of our stakeholders. Our values are:

• We will operate with integrity, ensuring consistent adherence to our principles.
• We will deliver independent, proportionate and fair regulatory oversight.
• We will be accountable and transparent in our decision-making.
• We will work with key stakeholders in a co-operative manner

We will strive for innovation in our delivery of regulation

Our Commitments

AHBRA is committed to providing all stakeholders with services in accordance with the twelve Principles of Quality Customer Service for Customers and Clients of Public Service. The mechanisms for contact and feedback for our customers are set out below.

Contacting us

AHBRA can be contacted between the hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday. You can find details of how to contact us on our website by clicking here.

Responding to you

Contact by phone

If you phone us:

• Members of our team are available during our opening hours to take your call.
• Your call will be answered promptly.
• The member of our team answering your call will identify themselves when answering.
• We will endeavor to answer your query when you call us. If we are unable to answer your query on the call, we will ensure to redirect your query to the appropriate personnel and follow up within 5 business days.
• If we are unable to take your call, you can leave a voicemail message and we will respond to you within 5 business days.

Written correspondence

If you write to us:

• Our publicly available email addresses are monitored by a member of our team at all times during our opening hours.
• We will respond to your correspondence within 5 business days of receipt.
• If your query is particularly complex, we may not be able to respond in full within 5 business days. In this case, we will issue a response acknowledging your query within 5 business days and issue an appropriate response within 21 business days.
• We will respond in plain, easy to understand language.

Visitors to the office

AHBRA does not operate a public walk-in office or counter service. If an organisation requires a face-to-face meeting, this may be arranged by appointment.

If you are meeting with our team, we will:

• Meet you at the agreed time.
• Ensure all staff members present are familiar with the reason for the meeting and have read and considered your correspondence.
• Conduct the meeting in a respectful and impartial manner.
• Ensure that your meeting has an appropriate level of privacy in our office.

Our website and public information

Information and guidance on AHBRA and our activities are available on our website. Official publications and guidance documents for AHBs are also available on our website. In making this information available we will:

• Ensure that information is up to date and that all webpages are regularly reviewed to ensure timeliness of information.
• Use plain English on our website and in our publications, and ensure information is easily understandable.
• Make information available in an accessible format in line with our Accessibility statement

Feedback and complaints

We welcome comments, suggestions and complaints about our performance and conduct in the discharge of our statutory duties and responsibilities. This feedback may come from AHB staff or board members, tenants, third parties, statutory agencies, local authorities, government organisations, voluntary and representative groups whose business interacts with AHBRA.

All complaints will be handled in line with our complaints policy 

Service through Irish

AHBRA is committed to meeting its obligations as a public body under the Official Languages Act.

• Our key publications will be published simultaneously in both English and Irish, and both versions will be made available on our website.
• Correspondence received in Irish will receive a response in Irish.

Privacy and Data protection

AHBRA values the privacy of those engaging with us and are fully compliant with our requirements under the Data Protection Act 2018.

All correspondence with customers will be handled in line with our Privacy Statement

What we expect from you

AHBRA aims to provide a quality customer service and ensure that through all of our interactions with customers, we will treat you with courtesy and respect. In return, we expect all correspondents to treat our staff fairly.

Action plan

AHBRA is committed to continuously monitoring and improving its services in order to provide the best possible customer service. In order to achieve this, a Customer Action Plan has been prepared in line with the 12 Guiding Principles of Quality Customer Service for public bodies.

Click here to access the customer action plan.