Act now on upward-only rents

In his Árd Fheis speech on Saturday night Taoiseach Enda Kenny stated “We had intended to legislate to end upward-only rent reviews, but this proved impossible because of constitutional difficulties”.

Our country has the most anti-tenant commercial lease law in the world i.e. upward-only rent reviews tied to long leases, which have destroyed tens of thousands of sustainable Irish businesses and jobs.

This feudal lease law continues to destroy thousands of sustainable Irish businesses and jobs and is damaging the Irish commercial property market and preventing a recovery of the Irish economy.

A healthy commercial property market is a function of a healthy and growing economy, and not of feudal and damaging lease law.

If you persist with this cowardly and misguided u-turn, Enda, you will create an economic wasteland, and when our country arrives at this wasteland, nonsense surveyors’ property valuations based on this lease law will be irrelevant.

Our country is alone in the eurozone in tolerating this feudal lease law. Upward-only rent reviews are a suicidal form of self-sabotage.

Your Government has received a legal opinion from the esteemed former senior counsel Gerard Hogan stating that “Under Article 43.2.2 of the Constitution in the exigencies of the common good, the Government can interfere with these leases and allow commercial tenants market rents.

Also, landlords are entitled to market rents but not to compensation.”

In your election manifesto and your programme for government, you made a solemn pledge to the Irish electorate that you would allow commercial tenants market rents.

The time for action on this vital commercial issue is long overdue.

John Corcoran

Spokesperson

Irish Commercial Tenants Association

Glenageary

Co. Dublin