Security of tenure is 'key to a well-functioning private rental sector'

John-Mark McCafferty, chief executive officer, Threshold; Ann-Marie OâReilly, national advocacy manager, Threshold; and Liam Reid, chairman, Threshold. Picture: Fintan Clarke/Coalesce
Private tenants in Ireland are being âpenalisedâ because Ireland is âkeeping regulation weaker than it needs to be to keep a small cohort of accidental landlords in the sectorâ, a top housing academic has said.
Speaking at the launch of Thresholdâs annual report, UCD assistant professor Mick Byrne said that security of tenure is key to a well-functioning private rental sector.
âWhat needs to happen is tenancies for a defined period, probably the six years which is the current tenancy term, in which there is absolutely no way a tenant can be evicted unless thereâs rent arrears or breach of tenant obligations, but no no-fault evictions,â he said.Â
âAnd at the end of the six years, landlords have the opportunity to recover their property. I would suggest thatâs an appropriate balance given the nature and make-up of the Irish rental sector.âÂ
Housing non-profit Threshold launched its report in Dublin on Wednesday, highlighting how more than 12,000 households reached out last year over fears they would made homeless, with around 10,000 people considered at-risk saved from homelessness.Â
Speaking at the launch, Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty thanked Minister of State Kieran OâDonnell for his pledge for more funding for the charity next year amid heightened demand from renters for support.
He said that evictions have increased substantially in recent years and it was vital the charity maintains its tenancy protection work and remains âas responsive and agile as we possibly canâ.
In his remarks, Mr OâDonnell said that reducing the risk of homelessness was âall about increasing supplyâ and that the Government was doing that. He said that the present increases are not enough but âitâs going in the right directionâ.
In comments in a panel alongside Mr Byrne, several different politicians had their say on the private rental sector with Sinn FĂ©inâs Eoin Ă Broin remarking that, over the last 30 years, it has ânever been harder to be a renterâ.
He described Mr OâDonnellâs comments as being âlike the story of the man who sets your house on fire and gives you a small bucket of water to put out the flamesâ.
âUltimately, itâs about delivering more social and affordable housing and shrinking the private rental sector,â he said.
Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan said that the private rental sector wonât solve the housing crisis in Ireland and that it wasnât adequate to take a âpiecemealâ approach to try to keep landlords in the sector.
âWhen we hear of landlords fleeing the market, I hate using that word, what weâre talking about is a group of people maybe in the 90s or during the boom getting buy-to-let mortgages,â she said.
âAnd those people are simply aging out. They shouldnât be landlords. They never shouldâve been providing secure homes for people and doing what the State traditionally what has always done in Ireland.â