Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is aware of the crisis in the buy-to-let market, with 29% of the 150,000 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears and 17% in arrears for 90 days or more. This means a staggering 26,770 rental properties are at risk of serious default. One of the most immediate consequences of the crisis is that the people living in these properties are at great risk.

When a bank repossesses a buy-to-let property, it appoints a receiver, which writes to a tenant to demand from that point that rent must be paid directly to a receiver and not to the landlord. The tenant is left not knowing whether the terms of the tenancy agreement will be met or if the receiver will take on the full role of landlord. Added to this is the question of whether the term of the tenancy agreement will be kept or a deposit will be returned when a tenancy ends.

Some receivers appear to be adopting a constructive approach but others are not, with some who act belligerently towards the rights of a tenant. That is unacceptable. As the buy-to-let mortgage crisis worsens, there will be ever more tenants left in a precarious position, and the Government needs to get a handle on the problem. It should immediately instruct the Central Bank to bring receivers and banks to the table to hammer out a clear code of conduct. At the end of this code of conduct must be a commitment by the receivers to honour the terms and obligations of the tenancy agreement. No tenant should be allowed to go homeless as a result of the appointment of a receiver, and no tenant should lose their deposit because such an appointment. A tenant should not be left without maintenance services because of a receiver's appointment. In the first instance the Central Bank should seek agreement with receivers and banks but there should be no doubt that in the absence of agreement, the Central Bank should impose a code of conduct.

In dealing with individual cases I have engaged with Threshold, which shares my concern that this problem is serious and likely to escalate. This means the Government must act now and not wait for the problem to spiral out of control. I ask the Minister to examine the problem, establish its extent and the probable rate of increase as the buy-to-let mortgage crisis deepens and set out a clear plan to ensure no tenant will lose rights or entitlements because a landlord defaults on a mortgage. I hope the Minister of State appreciates the serious nature of the problem and that the Government will take the necessary action to address it before it is too late.

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