Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Healy for bringing forward this well-intentioned Bill. As my colleague said, however, Fianna Fáil opposes the Bill. While we support the declaration of a housing emergency, certain provisions of the Bill are unconstitutional.

The housing crisis demands a more sophisticated and multifaceted approach to address the private rental and social housing crisis we face. Unfortunately, this Bill does not achieve that. Ireland is in the midst of a serious housing emergency which threatens homeownership levels for an entire generation locked into unsustainable rent levels. Fianna Fáil supports any effort to debate the crisis. We have to be clear in our policy responses, however. We cannot engage in selective grandstanding. This Bill is unconstitutional and would not have a positive real-world impact despite its best intentions.

The Bill would declare a three-year emergency which would be subject to review at the end of the period. This emergency would allow that no tenant could be evicted from a buy-to-let dwelling, a dwelling purchased for letting purposes. It would provide that existing private rents would be reduced to reasonable levels, having regard to the differential rent payable by the tenant in situto a local authority for rental of a similar dwelling. During the period of this national housing emergency, no resident in a mortgage dwelling could be evicted from a dwelling in which the resident resides. In effect, this would mean that a person cannot be evicted for any reason, regardless of his or her tenure type, whether rented or owner-occupied.

This could send the wrong signal to tenants for if the rent was withheld, the person could not be evicted. These measures are all-encompassing and present several constitutional and policy issues which undermine completely the stated goal of addressing the housing crisis. On the policy front, the elimination of the ultimate right to evict for non-payment of rent or gross misconduct would profoundly damage the mortgage market and any other private investment in the construction sector. Why would a developer invest in new units if those who bought them could refuse to pay and remain living there for three years?

With rent levels at such highs, a whole generation cannot save enough to own a home. While vulnerable households are at risk of homelessness, the prospect of homeownership is slipping away from an entire generation. As house prices rise at a rate of 13% per annum, wages are rising at a rate of approximately 2.5%. At 68%, the homeownership rate is at its lowest since 1971. The latest report from daft.iesets out extremely bad news again for a sector of the market which is in deep trouble and under severe pressure. The simple reason for the continued increase in rents is the capacity-demand mismatch. There are not enough houses to go around. The news for Waterford city was particularly worrying as it has experienced one of the largest increases in rents at a whopping 19.7% year-on-year. Average rents in the city have risen to €955 per month.

There is no end in sight for hard-pressed people who are trying to pay their rents every month. The quarterly increase was 3.7%, which is unsustainable. Most people aspire ideally to owning their own homes. People earning an average income used to be able to afford a mortgage and to make the repayments on it. Unfortunately, the cost of housing now means many people find themselves renting houses, some of which are substandard, and paying more than they would have to pay to service a mortgage on the same property. With all of their money going month-by-month on paying rent for their accommodation, people are simply not in a position to put a deposit together to try to get a mortgage. Even if they have mortgage approval, it is unfortunately the case that the affordable housing market is at an all-time low. As in every other city in Ireland, demand in Waterford outstrips supply.

While it is well-intentioned, unfortunately this Bill is not the solution. There is no easy solution to the housing problem. There can be no short-term solution. All pillars must work. Local authorities must ramp up the delivery of local authority housing as they did in the past and they must turn voids over much more quickly. A 20-week period to turn over a void is simply not acceptable. By "void" I do not mean a derelict house or one that has been ransacked. A void exists where someone has left a local authority house. In Waterford, the local authority boards up such houses and it can take up to 20 weeks to place a new tenant. That is too long. There is no reason that it should take 20 weeks to do that. Any tenant to whom one speaks who is desperate to get into such a house will tell one that he or she would paint it if allowed to move in. All people want is a roof over their heads. However, there are delays in procurement which are slowing up the system. We cannot blame local authorities entirely. The Department must look at the reasons behind the length of time it takes to move from planning to delivery.

We must also look at the affordable market. Budget 2019 will go some way towards addressing this through the investment of €300 million in an affordable housing scheme which should reduce the cost of new homes by approximately €50,000. The rental sector is under severe pressure and must be strengthened. The areas of Waterford and Limerick which do not qualify as rent pressure zones must be addressed. A review of rent pressure zones is required to incorporate this new data and it must be undertaken. The review should also examine whether the 4% rental increase cap is being adhered to. It is important to look at rent controls to determine whether they are working where they have been implemented. We must also look at the areas in which they have not been implemented. We must keep landlords in the market. Of all landlords, 75% own one or two properties and most are accidental landlords. They might have inherited a house or bought one investment property. If we do not have landlords, we will not have any houses available for rent. However, rents must stabilise with equal respect between the landlord and the tenant. Longer leases are necessary and tenancies must be strengthened.

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