Rent protections 'all in favour of the tenants', says property owners' group

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien intends bringing forward plans to limit deposits to two months' rent.

A spokesperson for the Irish Property Owners Association has called for the amount of deposits to be left to the discretion of landlords rather than a specific time scale as proposed under new regulations being discussed in the Dáil today.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien intends bringing forward plans to limit deposits to two months' rent.

The bill will also, if passed, restrict any upfront payment upon tenancy commencement to a total value that does not exceed two months' rent and restrict any advance rent to cover the forthcoming month only.

Margaret McCormack told RTÉ radio’s Today show that landlords were “the ones taking the risk” and so the amount of the deposit should be left up to them.

The new protections being suggested and the existing protections were all in favour of the tenants, she said.

There was a lengthy process with which landlords had to engage if they wanted tenants who had not paid their rent to leave.

It could take up to 18 months, she said, during which time they were not receiving any income and yet had a mortgage to pay.

“The person who loses the most is the landlord.” 

Ms McCormack said there was only a small number of renters in trouble because of the existing supports and that most landlords were being very helpful while negotiating with the banks, but that there was “nothing there” to help landlords.

“They need to be able to manage risk.” 

Ms McCormack also pointed out that in a survey at the end of 2019, 71% of her members had said that they did not receive money they were awarded through judgements by the Rental Tenancies Board.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 ban on rent evictions and increases is to be extended until January 12, 2022, as it is expected Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien will bring a bill to extend the targeted residential tenancy provisions under the Planning and Development and Residential Tenancies Act 2020.

The protections in place for renters negatively impacted by Covid-19, in arrears, and at risk of homelessness were due to lapse on July 12.

As a result of the move, which will need to be approved by the Dáil and Seanad, those seeking relief from the measures will be protected from eviction and rent increases up to January 12, 2022, subject to making the necessary declaration.