Sex-for-rent law will not end practice, former TD warns

Ruth Coppinger: 'It looks like there is some sort of progressive agenda being moved on but the reality is that it is very easy to draft a law on this but it is very unlikely to be of any use to vulnerable tenants.' Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins 

Legislation banning sex-for-rent demands by landlords will not end the practice, according to a former TD who raised the issue in the Dáil in 2019.

Former Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger was contacted in September 2019 by a tenant who had been offered a sex-for-rent arrangement by her landlord when she wanted to move out because of an increase in rent.

Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan introduced the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022 in the Dáil on Tuesday. The legislation has been brought following an investigation into the practice of sex for rent by the Irish Examiner. 

A fine of €50,000 and imprisonment for up to seven years are being proposed in the bill, which passed onto the second stage without being opposed.

But Ms Coppinger said she was “very cynical” about the proposed law, saying the housing crisis needed to be sorted to address the issue of why landlords can offer such arrangements because of high rents.

She said the Government needed to “spend more energy building affordable public housing”. She added: “That would be the ultimate solution because the people most at risk of this tend to be women with children, because they are the people who disproportionately suffer homelessness.”

She said one of the issues for legislation seeking to ban sex for rent is that most landlords who seek such arrangements do not reference this in their advertising of rental properties.

She continued: “The first problem is finding a landlord guilty. The second problem is getting a tenant to speak out and you still have to prove it.”

It is a little bit like woke window dressing.”

In light of the killing of Ashling Murphy, legislation tackling the area of gender-based violence has been brought forward, including the proposed stalking bill and the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill, she said.

But she said: “It looks like there is some sort of progressive agenda being moved on but the reality is that it is very easy to draft a law on this but it is very unlikely to be of any use to vulnerable tenants.”

While welcoming “anything that will assist anybody”, she said a survey to establish the prevalence of sex-for-rent demands in Ireland would be a practical step forward.

A survey in the UK showed there were 30,000 propositioned with sex-for-rent offers between March 2020 and January 2021.

Last month, the Irish Examiner spoke with six women who were offered accommodation at reduced or no rent in Ireland, with the expectation that sex or bed-sharing with the landlord would be part of the arrangement. Five of the six were foreign women who had moved to Ireland for either study or work.

One of the properties was a house in Newcastle West, Limerick, which would be shared with the landlord. He advertised a room in his house for a single lady “with a twist”. The ad said: “Can do reduced rent for occasional fun.”

When contacted by a prospective tenant, the landlord made it clear that sexual activity was required on a weekly basis in return for rent of €200 for the first month and €250 per month thereafter.