No-fault eviction ban will not apply to half of all tenancies, warns Rory Hearne as opposition vows to fight rental changes tooth and nail

Irish Independent

a day ago

Rory Hearne of the Social Democrats warned they would lead to increased rental costs and incentivise evictions, adding: "Renters will pay for Government policy failures."
He said the no-fault eviction ban will not apply to at least half of all tenancies.
"Unfortunately, it gives more power into the hands of landlords, and it is very much a pandering to the lobbying power of landlords.
"There are huge loopholes here. It appears that tenants of large landlords will have no-fault protections, but tenants of smaller landlords – at least half the market – will not be covered.
"In these cases, we will see thousands and thousands of renting families exposed to higher rents and it will, as Focus Ireland said, be incentivising evictions."
Labour's housing spokesperson, Conor Sheehan, said renters had been "thrown to the wolves" and also "thrown under the bus', saying there are more holes in the Government's no-fault evictions ban 'than there were in the Titanic'.
He said owners of four properties were being called small landlords, "which is the most Fianna Fáil thing I've ever heard in my life'.
"In my view, a small landlord is somebody who has one additional property. I think somebody who has more than one additional property is a professional landlord and should be treated as such.
"I don't think what's being proposed is going to achieve much. I think it's the worst of both worlds, both for renters and also for investors.
"Giving somebody a no- fault eviction ban for a limited six years is ridiculous. It creates a multi-tiered rental system, along with exempting new-build apartments from the rent caps."
There is no guarantee that any new supply will emerge from the proposed changes, he continued, adding, "and if new supply emerges, then you can be guaranteed it will be unaffordable'.
He said Labour had been consistently calling for rent pressure zones to be extended to the whole country since 2016 when they were first introduced.
"We were told that was unconstitutional. And I think it's important to cast our our minds back that far, because that is how long things have been continually getting worse at every single turn."
It follows a meeting last night, where Government leaders agreed on a new system of national rent control.
Under the plan, Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are to be extended across the country to cover every tenancy.
The current system, which caps yearly rent increases at 2pc or in line with inflation, will be retained for existing tenancies.
This 2pc cap would no longer apply to newly built homes, which would instead have a cap linked directly to the rate of inflation.
This measure is aimed at increasing the rate of private sector investment in building more rental homes.
But significantly, every area of the country will now be designated as an RPZ under the new national rent control system, meaning the remaining one fifth of tenants in Ireland not in an RPZ will benefit from rent controls.
Leaders also agreed on stronger security of tenure protections for renters.
This, it is understood, will include an end to no fault evictions in the case of large landlords.
Landlords are also set to be categorised according to the number of properties they own with smaller landlords to be categorised as those with three or fewer properties.
According to proposals going to Cabinet, landlords will only be allowed reset rents if the tenant leaves voluntarily. If a landlord serves a tenant a notice to quit, the landlord will not be allowed reset the rent. The move will aim to remove the economic incentive for landlords to evict tenants.
The move to expand the RPZs is seemingly one that goes against the recommendations in the report from Housing Commission.
In its report last year, the commission said while the rental market was both challenging for both renter and landlord, the RPZs were constraining landlords.
According to the report, it said the impact of RPZs has been mixed and the commission recommended changes to the system.
In particular, the report said the RPZ system should be reformed and a new system of 'reference rents' be established instead.
This would be landlords would be limited on how much they could increase rent by, and would be based off things like the size of the rental property and where it is located.
The commission also said regulations should continue between tenancies.
'If a tenancy ends the same regulations apply to the subsequent tenancy. This will discourage termination of tenancies that is designed to increase rental income,' the report said.
As reported in the Sunday Independent, the Government was considering new rules which will allow landlords to significantly hike rents beyond the current caps.
Under original the proposals, landlords would be allowed to increase rents to market rates in between tenancies of at least six years.
While current tenancies are expected to remain under the RPZ regulations, the cap would not apply to newly built apartments.
Currently, rents in a Rent Pressure Zone can only be increased by 2pc or in line with inflation, whichever is lower.
First introduced in 2016 to control the rapidly increasing rents in high demand areas like Dublin and Cork, it was a major intervention in the market.
Since then, the scheme has steadily spread across the country with most areas now considered an RPZ.
Almost ten years after they were first introduced, and with the current regulations are due to expire at the end of this year, it had been anticipated that the current rules around RPZs would change.
The Government continues to be under pressure on the issue of housing, with the rental sector a major focus, as the opposition has swooped on the issue.
Raise the Roof campaign will hold a rally outside Leinster House on Tuesday next week at 6pm, calling for urgent Government action on Ireland's housing and homelessness crisis.
The 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.
The Raise the Roof campaign group is coordinated 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, Ethel Buckley, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary said: 'Ten years into the housing crisis, and that crisis remains the greatest political failure of our time. Workers are being priced out of homes or can only rent or purchase with considerable financial burden.
'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.'