Call for rental court to adjudicate disputes as means to entice housing sector investment
The Rental Court would hear and rule on disputes within a three-month timeframe. Picture: File
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has called for the establishment of a dedicated adjudication body in its pre-budget submission, saying the current system for handling rental disputes, run by the Residential Tenancies Board, is overly complex, takes too long, and involves an inefficient use of resources.
It said two of the main reasons why small landlords are continuing to exit the market are complex rental regulations and the high risks involved in renting a property.
SCSI president Kevin Hollingsworth said the lack of supply, together with serious shortcomings in the administration of the rental market, are creating fear and uncertainty on both sides.
“The tenant/landlord relationship should be a co-operative one, involving willing partners,” he said.
“Too often in Ireland, the relationship becomes adversarial in nature. A lot of this is down to the chronic lack of supply but when problems do arise, tenants and landlords should have confidence in the dispute-resolution process. That is not happening with the current dysfunctional system.”
The SCSI published a rental affordability report which shows rent can form up to 41% of the total living expenses for families in certain parts of the country.
“We really need to look at ways of encouraging current landlords to stay in the market and new ways of enticing investment in the sector,” Mr Hollingsworth said.
The SCSI said the rental court’s sole purpose would be to hear and rule on such disputes within a three-month time frame. It said estate agents report mounting concerns over tenants’ over-holding of properties after the expiry of a tenancy, as well as with rent arrears and the unlawful withholding of deposits by landlords.
The SCSI’s pre-budget submission also calls for more effort to be made to enable the adoption of new ways of building homes via modern methods of construction (MMC). “If funding was available for flexible training programmes this would encourage small and medium-sized firms to adopt MMC. That is where Government has a vital role to play as an enabler,” Mr Hollingsworth said.
Separately, the latest construction report for Ireland shows activity in the sector was unchanged in August but that employment fell for the first time in nine months.
The BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction survey signalled stability of total activity midway through the third quarter of 2024. The reading was broadly in line with the figure in July. Any growth in the sector during August was generally in the commercial sector, where activity increased for the first time in three months. Housing activity was stable after a five-month expansion.
However, the survey of 150 Irish firms shows employment fell, ending an eight-month sequence of job creation. “Construction employment has been on an almost unbroken upward trend since Ireland’s economy reopened after covid,” said John McCartney, director and head of research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. “However, for only the second time in 20 months, hiring went into reverse in August. This triangulates data from the recent Labour Force Survey, which indicated a fairly pronounced pull-back in construction employment.”
The PMI does indicate that order books are expanding and the majority of building firms expect to be at least as busy this time next year.
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