Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Intense attention has been paid to the housing situation in recent weeks.

The Technical Group tabled a Private Members' motion on it at the end of April. We have had Leaders' Questions, Topical Issues, Other Questions and much media attention. The one thing on which we can agree is that there is a crisis which requires prompt attention so people feel a resolution is coming. Although the housing needed cannot be built overnight, if people see steps being taken and can feel confident there is a resolution, it would go a long way.

The facts, figures and statistics on the extent of homelessness are staggering. The picture of homelessness is changing from the sad, stereotypical minority of single men with mental health or addiction issues who have fallen on hard times. The homeless are very different now and include people and families who in other times would never have been in a crisis situation. It results from unemployment, negative equity and insufficient funding to the local authorities and housing agencies to answer those needs.

I have spoken on this before and identified that local authorities do not have enough housing to meet demand. Movement on the number of voids in my constituency is not prompt enough. I see it constantly in Dublin Central. There was insufficient funding for social housing and some of those contracted to build housing did not fulfil the regulations on social housing. In the private rental market rents are rising and there are other factors which cause landlords to issue notices to quit, which is putting further pressure on the housing services. Organisations do their best to source emergency accommodation so at least people are safe, warm and have a roof over their heads, but it is often unsuitable for families.

One solution is to give local authorities enough funding to make a difference, which means funding for those voids, and it must happen now. Some money is available, but this must move very quickly because of the extent of the problem. I see perfectly good accommodation boarded up. It is costly to board a house up and the longer it is left, the more it costs to renovate it. We have the workforce with the skills and we need to use them before they have all emigrated. We may have a problem in the future because we have insufficient training for young apprentices in construction skills. When I spoke on the Private Members' business I said rent supplement should never have been reduced without limiting the rents landlords can impose. Some landlords do not want rent allowance and that is discriminatory.

I note the three key elements of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, namely, a legislative basis for the new housing assistance payment, HAP; the new tenant purchase scheme for local authority tenants; and the reform of the process for terminating tenancies. In her speech, the Minister of State said she believed this would bring about the most radical reform of public housing support, but, unfortunately, it does not get to the crux of the most serious problem, namely, the lack of housing stock and opening up those voids.

The Minister of State has listed anti-social behaviours that merit terminations of tenancies and repossessions, namely, vacancy, squatting, anti-social behaviour, the death of a tenant or consistent failure to pay rents. I am in frequent contact with Dublin City Council's housing service. I acknowledge its flexibility in working out suitable and sustainable payment agreements with tenants who get into arrears. I was part of the Dublin City Council group that examined anti-social behaviour and put together the protocol. It was difficult because we all have different ideas of what anti-social behaviour is, and it can depend on one's age. We strove for a prompt and fair system where communities have been devastated by anti-social behaviour, particularly drug dealing and drug pushing. I have seen too much of the devastation it has caused where it is not addressed as soon as it is brought to the attention of the authorities.

The local authority has a process, albeit a slow one, for dealing with tenants who engage in anti-social behaviour. In the north inner city there is a very effective community policing forum which works directly between the community, local authority and gardaí in a confidential way and it has been very proactive in preventing issues from escalating. This aspect of the Bill does not address the private rental sector. In my constituency there are landlords who do not care what type of tenant they take and will not address other residents' issues about the behaviour of those tenants.

There are cases in which grandparents have brought up grandchildren for a variety of reasons, and when the grandparents die, those children, now adults, are moved from what was their home due to their changing needs and circumstances. There should be some flexibility on that. If a local authority tenant is evicted, the local authority is still responsible for housing him or her, and that creates a need for accommodation. The Bill addresses landlord compliance on accommodation standards and taxation. We are told that the housing authority will inspect the accommodation before or after the tenancy commences. That could be problematic and the inspection should occur before the tenant moves in. There must be a robust system to ensure tenants go into accommodation that is up to standard. Tenants have gone into appalling accommodation, and, equally, some have left what was perfectly good accommodation in an appalling state. We must examine the responsibilities of both tenants and landlords. We do not want to return to last year's figures which showed that over 90% of rented accommodation in Dublin did not meet basic standards and that 75% of landlords were splitting their houses into flats illegally. There must be provision for subletting by tenants, which is leading to overcrowding and health and safety issues.

We need a system in place with equal regard for the rights and responsibilities of both tenant and landlord. How will landlords be encouraged to join the scheme when they are doing their best to get out of schemes and are not accepting rent allowance or RAS payments? How can we ensure landlords will continue their discrimination and not get involved in the HAP? The Department of Social Protection asked Daft.ie to remove its rent allowance filter but the company made the point that when the prospective tenant talks to the landlord he or she must answer whether rent allowance is acceptable. There is a need to incentivise landlords to participate in the scheme and accept the housing assistance payment.

The Bill is very positive in facilitating tenants who can sustain a mortgage payment to become home owners. The new scheme factors in the length of the tenancy, and that is positive. The HAP does not specify rent limits, which could be problematic, and there is a need for a review process to allow for changes in the rental market. Limits on the rent allowance or the HAP are acceptable only if rents are also limited. Although the Minister of State said the HAP will be better for tenants, landlords and local authorities, there is a significant question around the resources and the extra work expected of the local authorities. Given that they have been subject to cuts and have lost staff, I question how they will be able to cope with this in their understaffed and underresourced state.

While there are many positive aspects to the Bill, the essential problems of rising rents and accommodation unfit for habitation will continue. We need more robust legislation on that. Demand for housing will remain unmet. There is concern for the housing charities regarding financing and the change from the 100% capital grant scheme to a loan regime. I was a member of the Constitutional Convention, which recommended the Constitution be amended to include economic, social and cultural rights encompassing a specific right to housing. If that were moved and the Government took it on board it would be an achievement on paper. However we still need the resources to back up that right.

See this speech in context