Cabinet solution on rents sparks concern
The claims were made by the opposition, independent expert groups, and charities despite Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Environment Minister Alan Kelly insisting the finally agreed policy will bring long-overdue certainty to hard-pressed households at risk of homelessness.
Under plans agreed after months of bitter internal rows between the parties and welcomed by some charities, landlords are set to be told they can only increase rents every two years — double the current time-frame.
They will also be blocked from increasing prices outside the market rate — expected to remain at 7%-10% rises every two years — and be told they must give tenants 90 days instead of the current 28-day notice to leave when a lease is ending.
In addition, landlords will have to provide significantly more detail when removing a tenant because a relative is taking their place, while the plan will also involve loosening regulations governing housing developments, allowing the potential return of controversial bedsits.
The measures will run until November 2019, at which point it is claimed the housing supply crisis will have been addressed. They will go to cabinet next Tuesday before being added to the Residential Tenancies Bill currently before the Seanad and becoming law this month.
However, despite initial cautious welcomes for the measures and claims by Mr Noonan and Mr Kelly they are a “game-changer”, the opposition and independent groups said they fall short of what is needed to tackle the housing and rental bubble crisis.
The Private Residential Tenancies Board said the group has “received a number of enquiries from tenants during the day about a possible rent increase” being imposed before the plans become law.
While a spokesperson for Mr Kelly said that only people who have not undergone rent reviews in the past 12 months will be at risk, Threshold chief executive Bob Jordan said the charity has “alerted” officials to concerns “rent would be inflated during the review period” — a view shared by housing expert Dr Lorcan Sirr, who said landlords will frontload rises because they will not be able to next year.
Focus Ireland spokesperson Roughan MacNamara said that while there are positive aspects to the plan, it still falls short of the previously flagged rent certainty initiative because “a ‘market rate’ rise of 10%-11% is enough to force someone on the breadline out of their home”.
Royal Institute of Architects Ireland president Robin Mandal said separate elements of the plan allowing the loosening of regulations governing housing developments, which involve the size of apartments and other matters, not safety standards, to increase housing supply could see the return of bedsits and “poor quality places”.
Further concerns were also raised by the Residential Landlords Association, which said the policy is “rent control effectively” and could force house owners out of the market.
However, Mr Noonan and Mr Kelly, who were backed by the Peter McVerry Trust, the De Paul charity, and other organisations, said the measures will provide certainty to hard-pressed tenants.
As both ministers’ back room teams privately claimed victory in their personal battle over the plan, Mr Noonan said while the measures will not entirely solve the crisis they will be “very helpful” to those at risk while not damaging the market.
He said “over-regulation” has contributed to the housing crisis because it “took 5,000 bed sits out” and that the previous “very high” development standards have put investment “beyond the reach of developers”.
Mr Kelly said the new plan will comprehensively deal with the rental bubble crisis, with his officials saying it is a better deal than the rent certainty initiative initially envisaged.
However, Fianna Fáil said it will do nothing for people already unable to pay their rent and the Greens claimed it is “gombeen politics” which will allow “developers to build smaller, darker box apartments”.
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Editorial: 12
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