Dr. Aideen Hayden:

I thank the chairperson and members of the committee for giving us this opportunity to speak on the forthcoming housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2016. I understand the committee received a copy of our submission in advance and a copy of our pre-budget submission. I will take this opportunity to make a couple of points.

Threshold is a national housing charity that solves housing problems and prevents homelessness. We have regional advice centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway and we provide a front-line service to over 32,000 people annually, primarily but not exclusively in the private rented sector. Many of our clients are paying a very severe price for the current housing shortage, principally due to rising rents, being forced to accept unsuitable housing and living in constant fear of losing their homes. With regard to the committee's previous discussion, anything that works effectively to secure a greater number of homes and social homes in particular through the Part V process must be seriously considered. Improvements to the planning system that will benefit our clients would be welcomed by us.

Most of our comments today will focus on heads 25 to 30 of the draft Bill, which deal with changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, and changes to improve the functioning of the Residential Tenancies Board. We have some comments on student accommodation as well. Our position is that whereas we recognise the proposed measures bring some level of relief to the sector - which is in crisis and the action is welcome as such - the measures do not go far enough and should be expanded to protect many more vulnerable people who stand at risk of losing their homes. The rise in market rents generally continues to outpace inflation and it will not be long before the protection that was offered by the temporary two-year pause in rent reviews and even the recent rise in rent supplement limits will lose effect. It is urgent that a more permanent and balanced approach to regulating rent increases in particular be put in place.

Rebuilding Ireland, the national housing strategy, is incomplete as yet and does not contain measures to reform the private rented sector. We must have a national strategy for the private rented sector that is adequately resourced with clear targets to address issues like long-term rent certainty, increased affordable supply, improving the quality of rented housing, promoting institutional investment and dealing with the difficulties in the buy-to-let sector. It is more than 15 years since we had the last strategic review of the private rented sector.

I will deal with the individual heads. Head 25 deals with the continuation of tenancy upon the sale of rented property. The number of rented households facing loss of homes due to the proposed sale of a property by a landlord, lending agent or an investment fund is of particular concern. As many members know, Threshold recently provided on-site advice and support to tenants facing mass eviction in Tyrrelstown in north-west Dublin; that issue led to the proposed change to section 34 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. This is set to become an even more serious problem over the next number of years as a significant number of distressed mortgage properties have been purchased by non-bank entities such as large investment funds, which have a business model of selling these investments within three to five years.

There are 47,402 mortgage accounts held by non-bank entities and a total of 19,701 mortgages in arrears held by non-bank entities. We welcome the announcement of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, that he intends to introduce measures in the finance Bill to target vulture funds and introduce restrictions to prevent them from designating profits and paying little or no tax on them. Legal safeguards must be put in place to give residential tenants similar rights to the tenants of commercial properties who remain unaffected by the sale of those properties.

We welcome the proposed legislative change that protects tenants to some extent in cases where 20 or more units in a development are being sold in a six-month period. The proposed change provides that a tenancy should not be terminated but at the same time the proposed protection is too narrow. For example, it does not apply where a landlord can show that the price to be obtained by selling the dwelling is more than 20% below what could be obtained with vacant possession. If enacted, the legislation must be drafted in a manner that ensures the requirement is robust and subject to rigorous proof, as we believe the provision could be open to widespread abuse. The provision applies where 20 or more units are being sold. This stipulation would exclude a great majority of cases where protection is needed. Our view is that the sale of any rented property should not lead to the termination of a tenancy. Section 34 of the Residential Tenancies Act should be reviewed to remove sale as a justification for the termination of a tenancy in any case where the property is in the ownership of an institutional landlord or where the landlord in question works as a property professional and owns, for example, in excess of three properties.

The extent of vacant properties in Ireland has been brought into sharp view recently and it is in clear contrast to the severe shortage of properties to rent as indicated by the Daft rental index. Where vacant possession is obtained for sale purposes and receivers are appointed to properties Threshold's experience has been that these properties have been left unoccupied for a considerable period of time and are adding to the number of vacant properties in Ireland. Failing that, we would suggest at the very least that the requirement that a notice of termination be given only after the sale of a property has been agreed rather than the simple production of a declaration of intent to sale which, at the moment, is grounds under section 34 for the vacation of a property.

We would very much like to see the current legislation introduce an additional amendment to deal with the situation of repossessions and receiverships. Threshold believes there is a very significant opportunity in this legislation to amend the Residential Tenancies Act to extend the definition of landlord to include receivers and lenders in relation to the repossession of property. There is no doubt that a change in the law is required to protect tenants in cases where their landlord's property is being repossessed or where a receiver is appointed to un-mortgaged properties. Due to a legal loophole in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, lenders or receivers may seek to summarily evict a tenant without giving them the notice required under law. In some extreme cases tenants come home to find their locks changed, effectively making them homeless. Receivers also may refuse to carry out repairs and ask the tenant to pursue their former landlord for the return of the rental deposit. A tenant should not lose his or her basic rights because the landlord is in financial difficulties. We are also seeking the introduction of a code of conduct on buy to let mortgage arrears which would introduce a transparent process for financial institutions, landlords and tenants and set out the required steps for engagement with landlords and tenants, along with forms of communications and ensure that financial institutions respect and uphold tenants' rights, which they currently do not do.

In my presentation I have set out the extent of the difficulties that our clients are experiencing, as illustrated by recent Central Bank figures. There is no question or doubt, looking at the number of buy to let mortgages in arrears of over 720 days, that the issue of receiverships being appointed to buy-to-let properties, and those properties effectively being left vacant and tenants being put out of those properties, is something that must be addressed as a matter of urgency. We are asking the committee to use this legislation as a way to introduce protections for tenants in situations where receivers are appointed to properties.

Head 26 deals with the repeal of section 42 of the Residential Tenancies Act, where a landlord can terminate a further part 4 tenancy without reason during the first six months of the tenancy. The removal of this provision is a positive measure but we do have concerns in that the further part 4 tenancy may be treated as a new tenancy which would allow a landlord to sidestep the current protections in regard to rent increases. We would like the provision to be changed to ensure that does not happen. It is our view that tenants at the moment have insufficient security of tenure. We believe tenants should have indefinite security of tenure. While the removal of the provision is welcome, it does not go far enough to clarify the situation, as things stand at the moment, in relation to security of tenure.

Head 27 amends section 100 of the Residential Tenancies Act. It provides for a reduction in the time-frame for the submission of appeals against a determination of an adjudicator, from 21 days to ten days. Threshold urges caution in respect of this amendment. From our own experience, by the time one of our clients receives a determination which is unfavourable, contacts us, discusses the options and lodges an appeal, a ten day time frame may be very challenging. These are tenants who are getting the benefit of expert advocacy and advice from an expert organisation. There are many tenants out there who are vulnerable and who are not getting that type of advocacy and advice. Even though there are provisions to allow the board to extend the appeal period, Threshold believes that the ten day time frame is too tight. Currently there is no strategic framework for planning, monitoring and funding housing advice and advocacy services. There is plenty of evidence that tenants are not aware of their rights. Threshold believes that there needs to be a dedicated funding mechanism to address this as a matter of urgency as there is significant human suffering to many, many tenants. It should be acknowledged that one in five Irish families in the State are living in private rented housing. We ask the Government to put in place a national awareness campaign to ensure that tenants are made aware of their rights.

Head 28 is an amendment of section 103 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which provides for the holding of one-person tribunals to assist in speeding up the process. If one looks at the level of disputes that come before the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, we contend that if more time went into the setting up of the deposit protection scheme - which was a commitment of the 2015 legislation - it would have a major effect in freeing up the capacity of the RTB to hear more cases. While Threshold does not believe it would necessarily be an issue, one-person tribunals in cases that can be quite significant to the individuals concerned such as in issues of rent arrears, could lead to situations of bias. For the record, Threshold dealt with 969 cases last year where tenants had difficulty in getting their deposit back from the landlord. The failure to return deposits can place a tenant at risk of homelessness. Threshold agrees that the implementation of the deposit protection scheme in Ireland is something that should be introduced as a matter of urgency and should be a priority for Government.

Head 29 is the amendment of section 121. Threshold sees that this measure will improve the processing times for dispute resolution with the RTB. We are in agreement with the amendment. Head 30, amending section 124 of the Residential tenancies Act, has the effect of allowing the District Court to make an order for possession. The effect of this amendment will be to speed up the process of securing the vacation of dwellings and will have a significant impact on the number of tenants who are at risk of homelessness. In response, Threshold believes that a protocol should be developed between the RTB and the relevant local authorities so that a local authority is alerted where an over-holding case is identified as a bona fide inability to secure alternative accommodation as a source of the dispute. The local authorities should have to assume an obligation to source alternative suitable accommodation either in the private rented sector or in a relevant social housing unit if the person qualifies for social housing, within a specified time frame, through its fast-track accommodation finding service. Such a service could be run in conjunction with the community and voluntary sector and possibly as an extension of Threshold's tenancy protection service. The fact of the matter is that many tenants are over-holding because they cannot find somewhere else to live. That is the reality of the situation.

Section 32, amends the Housing Finance Agencies Act 1981 to provide the Housing Finance Agency with the opportunity to lend to higher education institutions for the purposes of the provision of student accommodation. We think this is an important change. At the moment there are SOME 24,000 students who are renting from private landlords. In the main this accommodation is entirely unsuitable. The style of renting in the private rental sector is not usually suitable for students. There are only about 3,000 purpose-built student accommodation units. Ireland is looking at an increase in student numbers of about 20,000 over the next number of years and therefore it is critically important that third level institutions not only have an ability but a duty to provide third level education accommodation. We would like to see a condition in relation to affordability being introduced. Where State moneys are being made available it is very important that the type of accommodation being provided is affordable for students. As an organisation, Threshold has seen instances where on-campus accommodation has been subjected to significant rent increases over short periods of time , making it unaffordable. If students cannot access accommodation, for many of them they cannot access an education. Where campus extensions are being agreed Threshold would like to see the planning code changed to oblige third level educational institutions to provide for additional student accommodation also. I thank the committee for having us here today. My colleague Mr. Diarmaid O'Sullivan and I are happy to answer any questions the committee might have.