Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to the debate and do not accept many of the arguments put forward by the two Government parties. I welcome the Bill from Solidarity_PBP and agree with enhancing the rights of tenants. Currently, if a tenant is in situin a property for six months or longer, they automatically receive security of tenure for six years in what is known as a Part 4 tenancy. This Bill seeks to automatically create a Part 4 tenancy after a tenant has been in the property for two months or more, the idea being that this will ensure more renters receive security of tenure more quickly. The problem with this, however, is that there is no minimum limit set in law for how long a lease or tenancy agreement can last and there has been an increase in landlords creating leases of five months and 29 days to ensure that tenants do not automatically receive Part 4 rights. The two best friends of Chris, the guy in my office, have been caught by that lately. They could only get leases of five months and 29 days. I am concerned that allowing a tenant to receive Part 4 rights after two months might lead to even shorter leases. That would need to be blocked or landlords would draw up leases for one month and 29 days, which would not be illegal at the moment but should be made so.

One would not need to be a rocket scientist to know that it is a landlord's market at the moment and they will get their way unless we legislate for it. An overhaul of tenancy agreements and leases is not needed. A better way to resolve this problem would be to follow the German model, which ensures that a lease is always for an indefinite period and if landlords want to deviate from this and create a fixed period lease, they must fulfil one of the following three conditions for the tenancy: the landlord wishes to use the premises as a dwelling for himself, members of his family or his household; the landlord wishes to eliminate the premises or change or repair them so substantially that the measures would be significantly more difficult as a result of a continuation of the lease; or the landlord wishes to rent the premises to a person obliged to perform services, for an example, an employee of the landlord. The proof of indefinite leases is in the pudding as evidenced by the most recent German census in 2011, which showed that of the 41.3 million dwellings in Germany, 52% are used for rental purposes. The EU average is 29% and the Irish figure is 19%.

I heard the Minister complaining earlier about the fact that we are losing landlords. If we are losing them, we know why. I was glad to hear Deputy Ó Broin make the point that many people had no choice but to sell because they bought when property was too dear and had to sell. If the Government wanted to keep them as landlords, it could have helped them in some way keep their houses. The main reason the number of landlords has gone down is that the Government brought in the real estate investment trusts, REITS, which is nuts, allowing people to buy so many of these properties en bloc. I agree with increasing the extension of notice periods and with removing the sale or renovation of property as a ground for terminating a Part 4 tenancy. A new problem that has emerged in the past two years and that has contributed to rent increases is the fact that large-scale apartment blocks are being sold in bulk by developers or NAMA to institutional landlords such as REITs. It was presented to us a great idea because it was going to bring in professional landlords but it is a pity people cannot afford to pay them.

See this speech in context