Housing still on the agenda despite Dáil summer break, insists Hearne

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne has said the government’s changes to rental laws in March have bolstered the profits of institutional investors at the expense of renters.

I-RES REIT, the largest landlord in Ireland, has reported an increase in earnings which it attributes to the government’s new rent rules, which it claims has ‘unlocked’ capital and improved the investment outlook for the sector.

“IRES says increasing rents, and the profits recouped from them, reflects March 1st’s rental law changes, which has enabled landlords to reset rents to market rate,” Hearne noted.

“Minister for Housing James Browne and his government were warned that these rental laws would cause evictions to skyrocket, increasing homelessness and leaving our young people with little choice but to emigrate,” the Dublin North-West TD said.

“They rammed through these cruel and deeply flawed laws anyway, which represents a complete capitulation to large investor funds and landlords and a complete disregard for renters. It was made clear that these changes would cause not just record evictions but record rents, but the Minister paid no heed.”

Hearne explained, “March 1st provided a financial incentive for landlords to evict their tenants. Government policy has never more clearly reflected the coalition’s intention to represent the interests of the well-off, rather than those in need of a roof over their heads.”

He said, “the only certainty these laws provide is that thousands more adults and children will be condemned to a life of homelessness, with an entire generation stuck in their childhood bedrooms, forced to put their lives on hold.”

“Every tenancy which began before the introduction of these laws has been endangered by the government’s gesturing towards landlords that there’s more money to be made by evicting your tenants. This has led to the highest level of evictions witnessed since the famine,” Hearne asserted.

“Government policy prioritises institutional landlords and vulture funds at a time when there has never been more children living out their youth in homelessness. 5,620 children now comprise 32% of all homeless people. There has been a 60% increase in child homelessness since Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael formed a Government in 2020.

Hearne said that “under this government, evictions continue to be the main driver of homelessness. The reality is that a majority of tenants – including the more than 60,000 households reliant on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) – are not covered by the Housing Minister’s new protections for renters.”

“This issue will not fall off the political agenda just because the Dáil is in summer recess. I will continue to hold the government’s feet to the fire by pushing for an emergency three-year ban on no-fault evictions.

“This is the bare minimum required to prevent a further wave of homelessness,” he said.