New rent laws will 'rip up vital protections' for tenants, Labour says

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said allowing landlords to reset rents to market value between tenancies would rip up the vital protections altogether, and called for a rent freeze to give 'real breathing space' for tenants

On Tuesday, the Cabinet formally approved new laws that will allow landlords to reset their rents to market rates every six years.

New rental reforms being introduced by the Government will "rip up vital protections" instead of helping, Labour has said.

The Taoiseach insisted such an interpretation was "chaotic" during leaders' questions, as he criticised Labour for opposing measures he claimed would protect renters.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the Government was “dressing deregulation up as reform” with its updated rent regulations.

On Tuesday, the Cabinet formally approved new laws that will allow landlords to reset their rents to market rates every six years.

Yearly rent increases will be limited to a maximum of 2%, while landlords with more than three properties will be banned from evicting tenants without fault.

Smaller landlords will be permitted to evict a tenant in some circumstances, including if they or an immediate family member are planning to live in the property.

During leaders’ questions on Wednesday, Ms Bacik said the latest change in rental laws was a “chaotic intervention”.

“Nationwide rent pressure zones sound meaningful until you read the small print, because allowing landlords to reset rents to market value between tenancies will rip up the vital protections altogether,” Ms Bacik said.

Ms Bacik called for the Government to introduce a rent freeze to give “real breathing space” for tenants.

In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ms Bacik’s comments were “incoherent” and “chaotic”.

“In the sense that at one moment you use the word deregulation. I just can’t comprehend how you think that a bill which will create a national rent regulation framework is deregulation,” Mr Martin said.

“We’ll have national rent control across the entire country and you call that deregulation.”

Mr Martin said provisions to reset rents every six years were important, saying it was needed to ensure there was private investment coming into the rental sector.

“The Department of Finance estimates that to get 50,000 houses a year, you need about €20bn in the economy allocated and spent on houses. The State would not be in a position to find €20bn every year for the next 10 years.”

In response, Ms Bacik said the Government’s policy on housing was the one that was incoherent, citing Prime Time’s report on renters, where one tenant spoke about how she had received three notices to quit in four years.

However, Mr Martin said the Government’s rental reforms would prevent these cases.

“There’s no point in raising individual cases here with the correct empathy, if you then propose to oppose the very, very measure [to prevent] three such evictions in the short number of years.”