Landlords face compulsory ‘rent certainty’ deals

Government plans to make landlords sign up to three year “rent certainty” deals linked to inflation to prevent unreasonable price hikes for tenants could be signed into law as early as next month.

Thu, 16 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Senior officials confirmed the move will be included as an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Bill once it is given the legal green light in the coming weeks, after coming under fresh pressure to solve the housing and homelessness crisis during a sleep-out protest in front of the Dáil last night.

After the Labour annual conference in March, Environment Minister Alan Kelly announced controversial, still unpublished plans to force landlords to sign up to compulsory “framework” agreements for three years to give “rent certainty” to tenants.

The Cabinet member said the move — which would also see rent prices tied to inflation to ensure rates cannot rise unless there is a genuine wider economic reason or real investment is made to a property — were welcomed as badly needed to solve a burgeoning rental bubble crisis which is forcing growing numbers into homelessness.

After landlord groups claimed the move would cause a mass retraction of properties from the rental market and breach their constitutional rights as it involved a rent “control”, it appeared the plan could be sidelined.

However, senior Department of Environment officials told the Irish Examiner last night the proposals are at an “advanced stage” and the attorney general has yet to raise any legal concerns.

Barring a major U-turn, the plan will be formally put to Cabinet later this month before being included as an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Bill.

News of the move emerged as dozens of people took part in a sleep-out protest at the gates of Leinster House last night in memory of homeless man Jonathan Corrie, whose death last December caused a national outcry over the crisis.

The non-political party event was organised by 28-year-old Darren Bradley, who was homeless for a number of months a decade ago, and included groups like Focus Ireland, the Simon Community and the Merchant’s Quary project.