Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In Laois there has been no local authority house building for four or five years. There are six being built this year in Clonaslee, and that is welcome. Any new house is to be welcomed, but six is a drop in the ocean. There were two last year - one special needs and, as I recall, one for the elderly which was a maisonette. There is considerable need. There are 1,400 households on the waiting list and there is a significant amount of funding being paid out in the county in rent supplement, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, etc. I ask the Minister of State to look at this. Obviously, my party wants to see it across the State, but I am highlighting the position in my county because I am familiar with it. We could take thousands out of rent supplement, off RAS and out of emergency accommodation. If one takes what we are outlining here, 7,500 households in receipt of rent supplement involves an annual bill of €32 million on that alone.

This drive by the Government to house people privately and subsidise private landlords has led to massively inflated rents due to a shortage of available properties and many tens of thousands desperate for a home. Rents across the State have risen year on year since the Government has taken office, and have risen 9% in the past 12 months. The average rent across the State is now €828 more a year, with an average monthly rate at €880, that is, the equivalent of paying an extra month's rent every year. This is in the context of a period of wage cuts, hours being cut, wage freezes and unemployment. The overall solution in the longer term is for the State to become involved in a major house building programme. I outlined some of the economic benefits of that. We must look at this on a long-term basis, not deal with matters merely on a short-term basis, as the opportunities arise.

I also highlight the need for rent controls. We need to have rent controls as soon as possible. With so many renters facing eviction due to inability to pay, we face many more becoming homeless if we do nothing. Rent controls are not a new idea and if operated in conjunction with social housing investment, can provide for a stable and affordable housing market. A Swedish policy review in 2013 found rent controls act as:

a safety valve ... that ensures that the performance of the housing market will not get progressively worse. Rather, tenancy rent control will lead to the establishment of a ... long-run equilibrium.

They found it of benefit in terms of stabilising the private rented market.

Rent control was also found to reduce tenancy turnover. I am sure the Minister of State has come across where tenancies are being ended so that the landlord can get the tenants out and bring in somebody at €100 a month more. I come across many such cases in County Laois. In Dublin, and some of the bigger cities, it is a significant issue.

Rent control would also stabilise communities. It would result in tenants in the private rented sector living in a more stable community and having a better quality of life. It is a feature in many European states where renting is seen as a viable long-term option.

I also want to speak in opposition to the inclusion in this Bill of the removal of funds at source from tenants in rent arrears. Rents must be paid. I am not arguing that rents should not be paid and my party certainly is not. However, what I have found to be the best solution here is negotiation between the local authority and the tenant, perhaps through MABS or a public representative or whoever, to cover rent arrears, and it works in 99.99% of cases. I have been involved in having many evictions halted. A few years ago, there was a family of nine who were facing eviction on a Friday where significant rent arrears had accumulated. That family has now cleared their rent arrears, they are in the house, they have better management of money and are back on top of matters, and that is far better than putting out a family, a couple with seven children, on the road. Negotiation is always better than including such measures. Of course, deduction, if it is voluntary, is a great way, and often I have advocated that tenants take up that option of the household budget plan where they can have the rent stopped at source at the post office. It works well for many. I advocate that, but it is voluntary. We should encourage people to do that and to be good tenants. The measure, as it is outlined here, would mean that local authorities would not have to consider the individual difficulties and circumstances of someone in rent arrears and could bypass any kind of mediation such as I outlined to resolve the arrears. This would only thrust more vulnerable tenants into poverty.

There are many cases were tenants in difficult situations will from time to time develop arrears which they fully intend to pay off and maybe sometimes need a little professional help from an organisation such as MABS, but there are many single parents out there. A single parent with one child is on €217 a week. The Minister of State must be careful with this. That person is paying €40 or €45 a week in rent, which means he or she is left with €160 or €170, and has many other bills coming in. We need to be sensitive here. We are not dealing with those on €1,000 a week, €500 a week or even in many cases €300 a week, but with those on the bottom rung of the ladder, and we need to be careful to keep the rents as low as possible, get them to look after their houses properly which the vast majority of them do, and keep them in their homes and have stable communities. If the Minister of State comes along and gives the local authorities a big stick with which to beat tenants, it could be counterproductive in that some of them will become homeless whereas, in fact, what they need is a little professional help to pay their rent which, I accept, they must pay. We need to keep that incentive in place.

In conclusion, I want to highlight the issue of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB. The PRTB's staff has more than halved in the past few years. Their workload has mushroomed. The Minister of State does not need me to tell her what happens in such a situation. If one's workload doubles or nearly triples and one's staff is halved, they are under severe pressure. There is a considerable backlog of complaints. It is a slow process and it does not work for the simple reason that by the time a solution is found, the tenant or landlord who has complained has moved on to a new situation. The Minister of State needs to address that situation with regard to the PRTB.

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