Rent report is slammed by local TDs

A MAJOR study on the future of Ireland’s private rental market that pours cold water on calls for rent controls has been slammed by two Northside TDs.

The report, commissioned by the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), says rent regulation could result in fewer units available for tenants, black market transactions and lower quality housing.

It also recommends tax cuts for landlords including 100 per cent interest relief on all borrowings.
However, the report has been described as

“another sop to landlords

? by Dublin North West TD Dessie Ellis (SF).

“The findings of this report that rent regulations would be worse for tenants flies in the face of the realities of the rental market and the experience of tenants at the moment,

? he claimed.

“It proposes tax breaks for landlords but this would only increase their profits and keep rents at the same rate. Rent rates are not currently inflated to unaffordable levels because landlords are taxed too high; they are inflated because of the shortage of housing and the desperation of those seeking it.

“Landlords are renting properties which are often overcrowded, damp, cold and under managed for astronomical rates, which are not sustainable given average incomes at present and the general cost of living.

“People have lost their homes due to rent increases while they continued to work a full-time job.

?
Deputy Ellis pointed to recent Dublin City Council inspections that found almost 90 per cent of private rented houses weren’t up to standard, leading to 5,228 enforcement notices.

“The idea of giving landlords tax breaks to increase their profits further, in the hope they will invest in more housing, is clearly a bad idea,

? he said.

Deputy Ellis is calling for rent controls, while admitting it won’t solve all the problems associated with the rental market.

“It will do a number of important things,

? he said.

“It will stop unfair rent increases which are making people homeless. It will also foster a culture around renting in the long run, which makes it a more viable long-term option which should push up standards.

“This will not work, though, unless done in conjunction with major investment in social housing, to take the pressure off in the private market.

?

Dublin West TD Ruth Coppinger (SP) also criticised the new report and said rent controls were needed urgently to prevent a wave of evictions.

“In the face of a crisis in the number of people becoming homeless through economic evictions, rent hikes and the lack of social housing, incredibly, the PRTB publish a report looking to bring

‘stability’ to the market by ignoring the needs of tenants and suggesting tax breaks for landlords,

? she stated.

“For tenants, this report offers absolutely nothing. There are families being made homeless on a daily basis because of rent hikes, yet despite this and the evidence from other European countries on how rent controls could work, they say that rent controls would make the problem worse.

“Their only fig-leaf to tenants is that landlords should give them three months’ notice rather than one of a rent increase.

“This will not affect affordability of rents, it will just give people a longer run-in until they become homeless.

?