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

I thank Deputies Shortall and Murphy of the Social Democrats for bringing forward this Bill. We will be supporting it fully. I note that the Government is not opposing the Bill but I reiterate what has been said, which is that we would like to see the Bill implemented and not just be unopposed. The Bill adds to the protections that are so urgently needed for those in the private rental sector at the moment. People are extremely vulnerable for a lot of reasons but it is mainly due to the shortage of supply given so many people are now in the sector and competing with each other.

My first point is that, even if they have a genuine grievance that might well win a case in the Residential Tenancies Board, people are afraid to complain. They are afraid to bring forward their case because they are afraid they will not be able to find somewhere else that they can afford in the area where they need to live if they lose their tenancy. That is a real problem. Last Friday I dealt with a woman who has three children. She is a separated lone parent in receipt of rent supplement. Her landlord increased her rent by €100, which is topping up. This is not allowed under the rent supplement scheme although it is allowed under the HAP scheme. However, most people throughout the country are topping up or their landlords are putting pressure on them to do so. This woman's landlord told her he was going to increase the rent by €100 and he also told her that he would put it up by another €100 if she looked for repairs or any work to be done within the next year. I told her that he is not legally entitled to increase the rent again within the year even though Limerick is not in a rent pressure zone. However, most people are not aware of their rights and, even if they are, they are afraid to complain because they are afraid of losing their home.

I want to address the rent pressure zone issue in particular. Limerick, Waterford and a number of areas on the edge of the greater Dublin area are excluded. This simply is not working. It is not right that people in Limerick have no protection when last year we had one of the highest rates of increases in rents. We have gone through this many times before but it is not working in a number of ways. First, that rent pressure zones are measured in terms of the local electoral area is unfair to people in areas where rents are high but the average rent in the local electoral area is brought down due to low rents elsewhere. I do not know how to fix that except by doing what many of us in opposition have proposed by way of motion and Bills in the Dáil. We have proposed making the entire country a rent pressure zone and linking allowable rent increases to the consumer price index. This is the only way we will be fair to everyone. It is well over a year since the introduction of the legislation before Christmas 2016. I understood it was to be reviewed and it really does need to be reviewed because many people who are in very difficult situations are not in a rent pressure zone. Even for those who are in a rent pressure zone, landlords are getting around it in a variety of ways. One example is the issue around substantial renovation which is being abused by many landlords. There are also other loopholes, so I would urge the Minister to review it.

I welcome all the measures in the Bill. In particular, I welcome in the rent index proposal. Threshold has been calling for this for quite some time. There should be clarity for any new renter and the public in general as to what rents are, and this should be published by the Residential Tenancies Board. It is absolutely necessary that that happens. Security of tenure is absolutely vital and this must be balanced against rent certainty. If we just have security of tenure but do not have rent certainty, there is a danger that landlords will use one against the other. We need both. Other measures that are not contained in the Bill are also required but all of the measures in it are positive and necessary. The extension of the minimum notice period will protect many people from what would otherwise be a precarious situation.

There is no doubt that more and more people are being driven into the private rental sector and are finding it hard to get out of it. Unfortunately, the measures announced yesterday do not go anywhere near where we need to be in terms of people having affordable rent or an affordable scheme. As has been said already, a number of us attended a seminar organised by ICTU this morning. As part of the data presented to us, the Government's model of an affordable housing scheme, on which we do not have enough detail, appears to be one that simply will not work because it will be relying on the private sector to build houses and make profits and many of them will not be in the affordable category as a result. The alternative model is to use State lands, where there are more than 700 sites, most of which are in the ownership of local authorities, and to build something in the model of the Ó Cualann scheme in Poppintree, although it does not have to be that exact model.

The idea is that the local authority provides the land and the infrastructure at a low price in order to provide affordable and social housing without private profit as the motive. According to a statistic revealed to us this morning, 35% of the cost of housebuilding is taken up by the cost of land and the profit. If we could take out those factors, we could make housing affordable, even in the Dublin area, because the two things are related. There are more people in the private rented sector now who are working and are on low to middle incomes and who would like to be able to buy a house. The scheme that has been announced is comprehensive enough to address that.

There are many measures that need to be taken but tonight I want to commend this piece of legislation. I hope it will be proceeded with as it is practical and deals with some of the real problems renters have.

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