Mr. Owen Duggan:

There will be tenants who are willing to come in and pay those rents and to further minimise their disposable income. Tenants are not giving up tenancies, so where do those tenants go? If they are being offered public, social housing or housing through an approved housing body and are being removed from the private sector, or if they get a mortgage, that would be different. I do not necessarily think that the primary issue for all tenants is affordability. It is just a matter of finding something that they can have. Even if it is way outside their budget, they will figure out a way to pay it and so have their disposable income diminished. That puts upward pressure on the market rent. Where does it end, outside of a property crash? We are just chasing market rent on a race to the top.