Rental sector changes will encourage landlords to evict tenants, Focus Ireland warns
Focus Ireland's Mike Allen said this 'is a Government policy to increase rents'. File photo: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland
Proposed changes to the rental sector will incentivise landlords to evict tenants and increase rents, the head of homeless organisation Focus Ireland has warned.
Housing minister James Browne will bring his proposals for an overhaul of the Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) system to a meeting of coalition leaders on Monday night and a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday.
The moves are part of an overall plan to attract international investment and kickstart the building of apartments, as well as overhaul the RPZ system, which was introduced in 2016 and sharply criticised by last year’s report from the Housing Commission.
However, issuing a stern warning, Focus Ireland's Mike Allen said the measures will make renters even more vulnerable.
"By creating a multi-tier rental system, you're creating an awful lot of complexity, which means that intrinsically, that creates vulnerability for people who are less able to negotiate those difficulties. But you also create incentives for landlords to evict people so they have a vacancy, and then they can re-rent at a higher rent," Mr Allen said.
Under the plans, the 2% cap in RPZs will remain in place for existing tenancies, but new tenancies will be more closely linked to the base rate of inflation. Landlords will be able to change or reset rents between tenancies, a change from the current system, which designates whether or not a home is in a rent pressure zone.
Mr Allen said this "is a Government policy to increase rents" adding that "the reason they want to increase the rents is so that private investors will get a higher return on their money and will invest".
"But it also means that if that's the only way we can provide the housing, it's no way a solution to average workers, let alone low-income people."
His comments came as a number of trade unions and organisations came together ahead of a Raise the Roof rally outside Leinster House next week, calling for urgent government action on Ireland's housing and homelessness crisis, with a separate protest being organised in Cork later in the month.
The Dublin rally is timed to coincide with a private members motion tabled by opposition parties in the Dáil, and will feature speakers from political parties, alongside a series of singers and spoken word performances, including folk singer Lisa O’Neill, punk singer Meryl Streek, writer and artist Veronica Dyas, folk singers Jimi Cullen and Cork campaigner Martin Leahy.
The motion calls for emergency action on the housing and homelessness crisis, including increased investment in public housing, action to protect private renters, and a re-introduction of the ban on no-fault evictions.
The Raise the Roof campaign group is co-ordinated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and includes trade unions, housing and homeless agencies, women’s groups, human rights advocacy groups, and community organisations.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the rally, SIPTU deputy general secretary Ethel Buckley said: “In the last 10 years, rents and house prices have doubled — and in some areas more than doubled — while wages have increased by less than 40%. If anything, this gap has widened in the last couple of years. Rents and house prices are out of control.
“Alongside the human cost of this, we are seeing the serious knock-on effects, with thousands of unfilled vacancies in key sectors, and young people once again choosing to emigrate.
“We are deeply concerned at the lack of urgency shown so far by this new government. A government that is content to play the role of helpless bystander to this ever-worsening emergency. What is needed now is a radical reset with sustained action to deliver secure, affordable housing.”
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