Independent valuation scrapped as promised protections for renters delayed

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has altered the model of right to buy protections that was pledged to renters when the Government decided to lift the eviction ban in March. Picture: Damien Storan

Protections that were promised to renters when the eviction ban was lifted have been delayed until the autumn.

New laws to give tenants a first refusal on the purchase of a house if a landlord decided to sell were announced as part of a raft of protections for renters by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien when the Government decided to lift the eviction ban in March. 

Mr O’Brien had said the protections would be introduced before the Dáil summer recess.

However, it will now not come before the Dáil until September, with Mr O’Brien due to bring a memo before Cabinet on Tuesday seeking permission to draft legislation.

The Irish Examiner has also learned that the housing minister has scrapped a model that would have included an independent valuation of the property.

Under the new proposals, tenants who have been in a property for more than six months will be given 90 days to make an offer on the home if the landlord is selling it.

The landlord can then accept the bid and the sale process will get under way, but if the owner is not satisfied with the price offered by the tenant, the property will go onto the open market.

When a sale price is agreed on the open market, the landlord must go back to the tenant to provide them with one last opportunity to purchase.

If the renter either meets or exceeds the final bid on the house, then it must be sold to them.

'The quickest way'

When the measure was initially announced, Mr O'Brien suggested that an independent valuation would be sought and if the tenant was happy to pay that amount, the property would be sold to them.

However, officials have now abandoned this approach, having looked at a number of schemes in other countries, including France.

"We have gone down an open market route because it was the quickest way to do it," a source indicated, adding that using an independent valuation process could have become legally protracted and expensive.

Officials have been working through the constitutionality of introducing a right to first refusal and the impact it might have on property rights. The issue has been further complicated by conveyancing issues, which the Attorney General had been working on up until last week.

Certain exemptions on the right to buy will apply, including where a landlord wants to sell the property to a close family member and in cases that involve bequeathment after death.

A spokesperson for the minister claimed that landlords are already choosing to sell homes directly to tenants and local authorities, and there have been successful applications made under a number of schemes that are already in operation.

However, Sinn Féin has a Dáil motion on Tuesday calling on the Government to deliver for renters before the Dáil breaks for the summer, including a three-year ban on rent increases.

It follows homeless figures again hitting a record high with a total of 12,441 people in emergency accommodation in May, including 3,699 children.

Shortage of houses for sale

Meanwhile, a report by myHome.ie out today states there were 14,000 available properties for sale in Q2 this year, still well below the pre-pandemic figure of 20,000.

The report says the property market is showing signs of stabilising, with asking-price inflation rising in Q2 following three consecutive quarterly declines.

Homes are now being sold for 1.4% over asking prices, versus 5%-6% at this time last year.