Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Why are only certain areas highlighted and why did the Deputies designate some areas as fair rent locations? The Bill in some cases seems to be doing what the Government did with rent pressure zones. I do not really understand why this should not apply to all areas. This brings me to some concerns about what was inserted in that legislation, which we dealt with just before Christmas. There are loopholes, as noted by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Ó Broin. The obligation on tenants, effectively, to report breaches is a real problem. There are people who see their rent increased above the 4% level or those outside the rent pressure zones who have seen landlords trying to increase rent before the two-year limit expires. There are other obligations for areas outside rent pressure zones. These people are in such a vulnerable position and they know they cannot get other accommodation at the same price. They are the very last people who should have to police the matter, so I hope the Government will consider that in the review. People are under real pressure in that respect.

Several Deputies have referred to the Simon Communities of Ireland report, Locked Out of the Market, and I attended its launch. In my city centre of Limerick, the report considered renting by single persons and couples, including sharing adults and one-parent families, as well as one-parent families with two children. Only one property under all those headings in Limerick city centre is within the rent supplement or housing assistance payment, HAP, limits. It is for a couple or one parent with one child; there is nothing for a single person or a couple with two children within the area. The daft.iereport up to the third quarter of 2016 indicates an average increase of 13.2% in rents in Limerick, yet it is entirely outside the rent pressure zones. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, visited recently, and he gave some indication that he thought Limerick would be included the next time. That is a kind of invitation to landlords to put up rent now, which is a worry, and I have publicly said that this absolutely should not happen.

There will always be places just outside the rent pressure zones with people hoping they will just about get in. That causes very big problems, as does the point raised by Deputy Ó Broin when he spoke about the use of local authority areas rather than district electoral divisions. I know Limerick city best and because there is a big rural section in that local electoral area, it may not be included in a pressure zone, despite rents being near their highest in the city in part of that local electoral area. It is an imperfect model and I hope it will be examined in the review. I have just drafted a letter in response to a woman who contacted me and who lives in the suburbs of Limerick. She is renting and works in a professional job full-time. Her husband is a carer because they have two disabled children. The two years of controlled rent, if we call it that, under the regime introduced by the former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, are due to expire in the next couple of months. She is really frightened about what will happen at that stage as she knows there is nothing else that the family can afford in the area where they live and their children go to school. There is a real squeeze on people and they need solutions and some hope for the future. Supply is clearly a problem. Deputy Boyd Barrett states that wages have only increased by 2.6% since 2011 but rental costs have increased by a huge amount more. Even from a Government policy perspective, there will be more demands for wage increases if there is no control of housing.

As I do not have much time left I want to make a more general point. The supply issue is really difficult. Other people have referred to social housing and if the Minister, Deputy Coveney, had been here I would have asked him if he had looked at the One Cork idea, which is a very good social housing proposal. The trade unions in Cork have come together to present a very interesting document and I hope the Minister will consider it as a model of how local authorities can provide housing.

In my last few minutes I will speak to a concern raised by others about how publicly owned land is now being used to bring in private developers to build houses. I know the Minister of State, Deputy English, spoke about it last night when we discussed the planning legislation. The difficulty is we do not have an affordable housing scheme. There will be 10% social housing but we must see that this will not lead to very expensive houses on the one hand, with the builders asking why they should not charge such an amount; a small number of social houses, as provided for under current legislation; and no affordable housing. When somebody on an average income is not able to afford to buy an average house, the market is not working, and that is where we are now.

Deputy Gino Kenny was the last person to refer to mixed tenure but if we are to have that, we need affordable housing in the middle. We need the kinds of houses that people can buy because they do not qualify for social housing and at the same are not so beyond people in terms of cost that the person earning an average salary can afford them. We need to focus on intervening in the market in that regard. We urgently need affordable housing to be in that mix.

I urge the Government to deal with that issue quickly because it needs to be dealt with.

I agree with Deputy Casey with some of the points he and others made on vacant properties and the need for more effective ways to bring the properties back into use. I favour sticks as well as carrots in terms of not allowing people to leave empty properties to sit there idle. Deputy Broughan referred to that a moment ago. We need measures to ensure that they are not allowed to just sit there until a bigger profit is to be made.

We will support bringing this legislation to the next Stage.

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