Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The main objective of the Bill is to allow students the full protection of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2016 in terms of rent predictability measures and other protections specific to tenancy agreements. The Bill has been introduced in response to the recent price increases in certain privately run purpose-built student accommodation complexes. One in Dublin 9 has seen an increase of an exorbitant 24% and, more recently, a complex in Galway increased prices by 18%. The Government understands the Bill is a genuine attempt to improve the position for students at a time of under-supply in the residential rental sector. Recent excessive rent increases in student accommodation in Dublin and Galway are a cause of significant concern and I have met the DCU and NUIG students' unions to discuss the issue.

The Government will not oppose the Bill on Second Stage on the basis that providing rent predictability within student specific accommodation is aligned with the Government’s policy of actively addressing barriers to education. The Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government will consider the Bill’s approach further as part of a comprehensive review of the student accommodation sector generally.

As acknowledged by the expert group's report on the future funding of higher education, central to our economic well-being is the contribution human capital makes to national competitiveness. The recognition of the contribution graduates make to the economic growth of Ireland sits alongside the recognition that accommodation costs are a key factor in enabling access to third level education. The Government is determined to address any barrier to higher education and any limitation on the choice of location or course followed.

Research undertaken by the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, indicates that approximately one third of students live in purpose-built student accommodation, with almost the same number living in the private rented sector. In the current rental market significant competition for accommodation in the private rented sector is increasing the reliance of students on purpose-built student accommodation. In light of this, I support the spirit of the Bill and that of Deputy Darragh O’Brien of Fianna Fáil, Residential Tenancies (Rent Pressure Zones and Student Accommodation) (Amendment) Bill 2018, as genuine attempts to improve the position for students. Ultimately, however, price is a function of supply and demand and the Government is working to increase the supply of student accommodation. One of my first acts as Minister of State last July was to publish the national student accommodation strategy to increase the supply of student accommodation and increase the take up of digs. It was delivered as part of the Government’s housing strategy, Rebuilding Ireland, and is an important element of the housing strategy in ensuring increased levels of student accommodation are available to meet the needs of the growing student cohort. This, in turn, will help to alleviate the overall shortage of supply in the private rental sector.

Our strategy has set a target of an extra 7,000 bed spaces to be built by the end of 2019 and a total of 21,000 additional beds by 2024. We are well on target to meet and exceed these numbers. At the end of April this year 2,990 bed spaces were finished. An additional 2,354 student beds will be available for the coming academic year, with over 2,800 the following year. Some 8,445 have planning permission, while 917 are at planning application stage. We should, therefore, meet, if not exceed, the Rebuilding Ireland targets of 7,000 purpose-built bed spaces by the end of 2019 and 21,000 bed spaces by 2024.

The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Department of Education and Skills also jointly fund a student accommodation officer within the Union of Students in Ireland. The USI and the Departments are working, through the interdepartmental working group on student accommodation, to promote and facilitate the provision of digs accommodation as an alternative to both purpose-built student accommodation and the general rental market for students. I met the Residential Tenancies Board, with the DCU students' union, when the issue of a rent increase arose there. The Residential Tenancies Board offered to examine any student licence contract submitted to it to ascertain its validity. I have also asked the Attorney General for advice. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy; the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, and I are working on putting this advice in place. We need a robust and legislatively sound solution.

The proposal in front of us seeks to apply the protections afforded to tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to students living in student specific accommodation under licence. In addition, the Bill aims to grant access to the Residential Tenancies Board's dispute mechanisms to students living in student accommodation under a licence agreement. It does so by proposing to amend the definition of “tenancy” to include the phrase “and a licence for student specific accommodation”. The Bill also seeks to introduce a definition of “licence for student specific accommodation”. The Bill does not define “student specific accommodation”. Rent predictability is important. However, we must ensure we deliver the most appropriate solution to provide predictability for students and their parents, while ensuring the supply of new accommodation is not adversely impacted on. Rent predictability measures were first introduced by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government under Part 3 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016. Rent pressure zones regulate rental increases for tenancies within a rent pressure zone to a maximum of 4% per annum and hold their legal basis under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended.

It is important to note that the annual rent increase limit of 4% does not apply to the following dwellings under tenancies in rent pressure zones: new rental properties, that is, properties that have not been subject to tenancy in the two years prior to an area being designated as a rent pressure zone; and rental properties that, during the period since the last rent was set, have been substantially refurbished or changed in nature. In the main, it is understood seeking to bring student accommodation under the Residential Tenancies Act has the potential to impact on the wider rental market; thus it is imperative that in seeking to find a solution to this complex issue, we exercise extreme caution in order that we may ensure the longevity of the solution.

This is a difficult balancing act of ensuring the vital protection of our students and increasing the availability of affordable student accommodation, while ensuring the constitutionally protected rights of property owners. Earlier this month, I met my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy English, to progress the issue of rent certainty in purpose-built student accommodation. The interdepartmental working group on student accommodation is urgently examining all the issues around student accommodation types and pricing. It will consider the Sinn Féin Bill as part of this work. It will also consider whether bespoke legislation or amending existing legislation is the best way forward.

The Government strongly supports and has taken important actions to seek to ensure sufficient supply of affordable student specific accommodation provided under licence. It is important that legislation in this area is legally robust and does not give rise to unintended consequences with, for example, planned future provision of affordable student specific accommodation. If this work finds that there is a policy-based case for legislation in this area, proposals will be brought forward either in a standalone Bill or in the context of two Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bills envisaged this year. The first of these is expected in mid-June.

For the reasons I have set out, the approach proposed in this Private Members' Bill will not be successful in achieving its objectives.

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