Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly has warned that rents could increase by as much as 15% a year, should the government’s new renters legislation go through in the Dáil next week.
The Dublin West TD dubbed the legislation “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s Rip-Off Rent Hike Bill.”
Donnelly said that renters would be “shafted” by the new rules, which he warns will open the door to vulture funds and “big landlords” to increase rents.
He said Sinn Féin will oppose the legislation “tooth and nail.”
“We need to end the rip-off, ban rent increases and make rents affordable,” he said.
“This is the most profound change to rent regulation in a decade which will allow landlords to reset rents to market rates at the start of new tenancies and every six years after that,” he warned.
From March 1st of this year, more and more renters will be subject to this new market rent reset rule, which Donnelly said would “increse already unaffordable rents will be hiked up even further”
“For renters in Dublin this means rent hikes of €293 a year – a shocking 15.1% increase compared to current average rents.”
“Across the state, this means rents could jump by an average €3,000 a year; this is truly scandalous,” he said.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have shafted renters yet again. They are being made to pay the price for the government’s failed housing policy.”
Donnelly said that the government “should be focused on bringing rents down, not caving in to the demands of vulture funds and big landlords for ever higher rents.”
“Sinn Féin will oppose this legislation tooth and nail. Rents in Dublin West are already too high, renters simply cannot take further hikes; we need to end the rip-off, ban rent increases and make rents affordable,” he said.