Rental reform plan will add to homelessness, landlords claim
New plans to reform the rental housing market are unfair and will have a serious negative effect on rentals, according to the Irish Property Owners Association, the body representing the country's landlords.
The new two-tier reform, which proposes to lift the cap in rent pressure zones and provide for minimum six-year leases, is being debated in the Dáil tonight and considered by Cabinet tomorrow.
The controversial measures are aimed at encouraging landlords to enter the market and increase the number of rental homes, but the Property Owners Association say it will have the opposite effect. Pic: Shutterstock
They have urged the Government 'to consider the impact of, in effect, banning short-to-medium term letting of less than six years' and of the implications for owners of large, multiple tenancies who wish to sell the property. They also ask if the new reforms will include exemptions for homeowners going into nursing homes who want to rent their home for less than six years.
'The IPOA is concerned that the Government's proposed reforms are over-complicated and that the proposed 6-year minimum security of tenure will have a serious negative impact on private, non-institutional landlords, and on the rental market. The IPOA fears that the Government may not have fully considered some of the implications and consequences of the proposals,' spokeswoman Mary Conway said. Mary Conway. Pic: Supplied
'The proposed changes are unfair on the individual who – for good reason – wishes to, and needs to, rent out their home for a short period and points to a flaw on the part of the Government thinking which – by going after institutional landlords – has ignored the implications for individual, private landlords.
'We believe that in seeking to address political concerns about the role of institutional landlords (who are predominantly active in the Dublin region), the Government may be punishing individual landlords, particularly the types of landlords who are the drivers of rental supply in provincial towns and rural areas outside of the large cities.' Ms Conway added. Pic: Shutterstock
The proposal to lift the cap on rent in rent pressure zones has been heavily criticised by renters and housing charities. Instead of limiting rent increases to 2% a year the rent will now be tied to the rate of inflation, meaning a higher increase in rents.
The Government believes lifting the current rent cap will encourage large landlords to enter the Irish market, but critics and opposition politicians say it will lead to more homelessness if the cap is lifted.
As a mark of Ireland's dysfunctional rental market, three-bedroom houses and apartments in Tallaght are now renting for a staggering €3,000 monthly.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
27 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Entire country to be brought under Rent Pressure Zone in major change agreed tonight by Government leaders
In a meeting tonight, leaders met and agreed on a new system of national rent control. The current system, which caps yearly rent increases at 2pc or in line with inflation, will be retained. 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 this evening 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. The move is 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. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 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.
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Behind the Story: Estonia's different approach to AI in education
One of the emerging concerns in education in recent times has been AI, particularly when it comes to assignment work and plagiarism. Spotting it is becoming increasingly difficult, according to many academics, while in secondary schools in Ireland, there are anecdotal reports from teachers about its misuse. As this technology develops, it will only get more difficult for those whose job it is to spot it in assignments. Last weekend, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland voted to reject proposals aimed at reforming the Leaving Cert. The main concern for the majority of ASTI members was a lack of resources and capacity, according to General Secretary Kieran Christie. But another area of concern was project work and practicals that will be worth a minimum of 40% of a student's grade. The fear is that students could use AI for such projects, and it's not clear how that can be addressed. The Department of Education is finalising guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in schools. It says this guidance will focus on AI in teaching and learning, and will come in addition to the Examinations Commission's advice on the technology when it comes to the Leaving and Junior Certificate. Ultimately, decisions on how it may or may not be used in Irish schools will come down to the Boards of Management at each one. But while Ireland grapples with how to police AI in the classroom, another EU nation is embracing it – and it's one of the continent's top performing places when it comes to learning. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation's (OECD) PISA tests, which examine education outcomes in 79 countries, Estonian students are top in Europe in math and science. They are also second in the EU when it comes to reading, only behind Ireland. From September, the country will roll out licences for artificial intelligence platforms to students aged 16 and 17, as well as teachers. The technology will be integrated into the learning process for all subjects, including physical education. Speaking to RTÉ's Behind the Story podcast, the country's education minister Krisinta Kallas said that AI is here to stay and that the country wants to harness it rather than discourage it. "We are worried that if we don't do anything, and if we don't do more supervised learning with AI, there will be a lot of unsupervised learning with AI anyway and that would be at the detriment of the skills and competences of the children." Ms Kallas said that it will be up to the teachers to determine how exactly it will be used. "I think the crucial thing with AI is not so much of regulating its use, because I don't think you can 100% regulate it, but it is rather making teachers competent in how AI operates, how AI impacts learning, and how it can be used to enhance the learning. "So the training of the teachers is absolutely key. You should not put all your trust in technology, you should put all your trust on teachers." The children will use tablets in school, but can use their AI accounts on their own private devices at home too. It is hoped that by giving it to all students and schools, there will be equality in its use in education with no socio-economic gaps. There has been no public pushback on the plan according to Ms Kallas. "It might be because our education has been relatively digitalised for a very long time. "We introduced the first digital tools into our education system 25 years ago, so there is a whole parents' generation who has grown up by using digital technology in schools so it hasn't really been an issue. "So the debate is mostly about how to use AI and what kind of learning it should enhance, and what would happen if we don't use it because maybe there is much more fear of missing out on learning skills if we don't do a nationally - organised programme on AI introduction. "If we just allow to go in a natural way as it is today, then students are using it for replacing their own learning rather than learning with an AI and that's a much bigger risk than trying to introduce AI in a more supervised and controlled way with teachers." "In that reality we need to redesign the whole learning process – what kind of assignments we give to students and what kind of learning we want to happen, and how the AI will be used by the students to enhance this learning." Mobile phones Unlike other countries in Europe, Estonia supports the use of mobile phones in schools. But Ms Kallas said teachers ultimately take autonomy in decisions when it comes to them. "We believe in a bottom-up approach when we allow schools to make those regulations," she said. "Mobile phones are used in class for learning purposes quite a lot in Estonia. "And also mobile phones in Estonia are used for all other things that you do in life. "The child needs to get the bus schedule to get home, needs to contact their parents, needs to figure out how to get to the sports club after school. "We do voting and other activities as citizens through our mobile phones. "It would be confusing for the younger generation that on one side we want them to vote online and use their phones to do their civic duty and on the other side we ban them from the school. "What we need to do is make them learn how to use the mobile phone for the right purposes."
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Irish senator who waved off Madleen Freedom Flotilla says crew predicted arrest
The ship has since been intercepted by Israeli forces, with its crew of 12, including activist Greta Thunberg, arrested around 2am and now heading to a port in Israel. Senator Ruane said: 'Due to the fact the last Flotilla – Conscience – was attacked in international waters the general feeling was if they were going to take sail it was highly likely that there would be an interception this time round two." The British-flagged yacht Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military on Sunday to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza. The minister called the mission a propaganda effort in support of Hamas. The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on X: 'The 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.' All passengers were safe and unharmed, it later added: "They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over." But this evening Ms Butterly, who is a member of the land co-ordination team of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, has called for more action. She said: 'We have received so many messages from you from across the world expressing support, solidarity, love and concern and asking what you can do. More than anything at this point, as well as focusing on the well-being and the eventual release of all of those who are now detained, the need is to focus on Gaza. 'We need to sail those winds and those seas, those waves of solidarity that have been so beautifully present as a beacon of hope over the past ten days onwards into Gaza and that means action – more ships, more organising, more mobilising. We need people behind the scenes, all of these missions including this one took months almost a year to prepare for one ship alone.' ADVERTISEMENT Senator Ruane added: 'Everything that the Flotilla stands for is something people get behind and support, the fact that there is no aid is reaching into Gaza, they knew at some point the Israeli authorities would want to intercept them and it's an illegal interception. 'The Freedom Flotilla has various different countries that have organising committees, you can see them on the boat – there are several different nationalities. There's a huge level of co-ordination involved and there have been Irish people involved in the coordination over the years.' Before the Flotilla set sail Ms Butterly shared a photo of herself with Greta Thunberg who was spotted wearing a Bohemians x Fontaines DC jersey. Lyrics from the band's latest album along with the words 'Saoirse don Phalaistín', which in Irish means 'Free Palestine' are emblazoned on the top. The shirt was designed by guitarist Carlos O'Connell, with 30pc of profits going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. In a statement this afternoon, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Madleen was 'an effort to get food and medicine to the starving people of Gaza; an unarmed civilian effort in the midst of devastation and catastrophic humanitarian conditions'. He added: "But it was much more than that; it was a powerful symbol of the urgent and essential need to end the blockade on humanitarian aid.'
