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

That was because the tenant had indicated that the proposed increase would put the rent up by an average of 5.4% because of the delay in the three month period. This is complicated but I am only bringing it up because I think it might be something that could be looked at in the context of the yearly registration of tenancies. There are other issues with the rent pressure zones that I will come to at a later stage. As has been said, I think the criminal offences will only be a last resort and that is as it should be. It is important, however, that there are sanctions and that they can clearly be implemented. That means ensuring that the Residential Tenancies Board is appropriately resourced. We want to be absolutely assured that the Residential Tenancies Board will be able to carry out the kind of inspections and the follow up to those inspections that will be required under the legislation.

I also welcome the longer notice periods. Tenancies of less than six months, however, should also have an increase in the notice period, and that is something the Minister might look at. That point has been made. I welcome also the rollover of Part 4 tenancies and the publication of determinations. I agree with Deputy Ó Broin, however, that the names should be redacted. The definition of "substantial change" is something that has long been required as well because landlords have used that issue to give people notice where, in fact, there were only very minor changes. It is certainly necessary to have a definition.

Threshold, however, raised the point of what the exact definition might be, with reference to the 50% floor area and the detail of what is in that definition. It also raised a valid point on the number of rooms. Does subdividing a room mean that an extra room is being added? These things need to be stated much more clearly in the definition. I also refer to building energy ratings, BERs. They are part of the definition used in respect of improvement and they are also used where a landlord can avoid the restrictions of the rent pressure zones, RPZs. I ask the Minister to look at that again as well. If it is only a minimal change that does not cost the landlord an awful lot but does improve the BER, that is not a justification for being exempted from the restrictions in the RPZs. That needs to be addressed and it is a small change. The Minister has said that if an improvement is only bringing a property up to the minimum standard, that does not suffice for exemption. It needs to be specified as a substantial change, however, because some relatively minor changes will bring a property up to a higher BER. I ask the Minister to examine that issue as well.

On what is not in the Bill, I acknowledge the Minister stated that he is going to bring in some amendments and one of those will be on the publication of a rent register. That is critically important. I know the Minister said that he is talking to the Attorney General about it. I was concerned with his contribution, as contained in the script that we got:

I hope to introduce an amendment to allow the RTB to publish rental amounts in its register. This proposal is receiving due diligence by the Office of the Attorney General. Enhanced rent transparency is our goal, and it is an important one.

The way I read that, I am not too sure that is going to be a quick resolution of the issue. While we want to see the legislation brought through as quickly as possible, the rent register is an important element of it. I am concerned and ask the Minister, again, to give us some indication if, for example, he has got preliminary views from the Attorney General on this. A new tenant who does not know what the previous tenant paid then does not know if he or she is being charged more than 4% in a rent pressure zone. The rent register is, therefore, an important element to what we expect from this legislation.

The other issue mentioned was student accommodation. I agree we need to move on that as quickly as possible. I have concerns about that as well, though. Will the Minister give us some kind of timeline on when he expects to have clarification on including the elements of student accommodation not currently covered? When will that happen? I do not want to see the legislation delayed. We know much Brexit related legislation is probably coming down the tracks. At the same time, however, the rent register and the inclusion of student accommodation are very important to this Bill and we need clarification on those issues.

Regarding closing the various loopholes that exist in the area of termination of tenancies and notices of termination, I would like to have seen something stronger on those aspects. I refer, for example, to the sale of a property not being an allowable reason for giving someone a termination notice. There is no reason a landlord should not sell a property with an existing tenant in place. It is about balancing rights to private property with people's social rights and the right to a roof over their heads. The least we should have is a system of verifying that the property was sold. The landlord should also have to indicate clearly, in advance, that the property was for sale and what way it was proposed to sell the property. There needs to be some tracing of that.

The same applies in respect of the family members of a landlord. Tenants can also be put out of a property because the landlord needs it for a family member. We have proposed legislation on some of these issues, as have other Opposition parties. We wanted to tighten the definition of "family members" so that it would be close and not distant family members. A number of reasons are given for putting people out of a property, including doing up the property, which is addressed in this legislation to some extent, the sale of the property, or the use by family members. These reasons are given far too often when people are put out of their home. People then find it almost impossible to find an alternative home and they end up in homelessness. All of these issues are areas where we need to make the legislation as strong as possible in favour of the tenant because people are finding it so difficult now to find alternative properties when they lose their homes.

I would also like to see that there would be advance notice of eviction and that the landlord would have to advise the Residential Tenancies Board. The RTB, in turn, would have to advise the tenant and the local authority that there was a termination notice. In Britain, there is a requirement for the intervention of the local authority in advance of people becoming homeless rather than when they become homeless or almost homeless. There is much more we could do in preventing homelessness in this area.

I have spoken many times in the House about extending rent pressure zones to areas such as Limerick and Waterford. We had this debate last week during priority questions.

At the end of the year, the current rent pressure zone legislation will come to an end. Will the Minister advise us on how he actually intends to proceed following the end of the current period? We should have plenty of time to debate and understand what replaces the current legislation, whether it will be extended or redrafted. We have to look at those areas which are constantly chasing the national average. I have made the case again and again about Limerick, the area I know best, where local electoral areas include rural and urban areas. People in the urban parts of the local electoral area are paying rents higher than the national average, have had the required number of percentage increases over the past number of quarters but they are not covered under the rent pressure zone legislation. I urge the Minister to amend the legislation in that regard when he is dealing with the three-year period coming to an end at the end of 2019.

I also suggest that the enabling provision that would allow for a charge for mediation be reconsidered. Mediation is a way of avoiding conflict in other ways that can be quite costly. Charging for it is also counter-productive.

I understand from the legislative programme that the Minister will bring forward another Bill on the role of receivers as landlords. Will he clarify whether that is the case? It could have been included in this legislation.

I also would have liked to have seen a limit on deposits. One month’s rent was always the standard for a deposit but we have seen evidence of up to three months’ rent being required. That puts certain people out of the running in terms of having the opportunity to apply for certain properties. Last night, Deputy Darragh O'Brien raised the need for a deposit protection scheme. There is enabling legislation in place from 2014 but it has not been implemented yet. I know the Minister has a different view to mine as to how this should be done. However, I support Deputy Darragh O'Brien on the need for a deposit protection scheme. There are many cases where tenants do not get their deposits back, even though they have not done anything to allow a landlord keep the deposit.

We really need to take the opportunity to make this legislation as strong as we possibly can. Whenever Committee Stage will be scheduled – Deputy Ó Broin said the committee is available to take Committee Stage soon – we should see considerable amendment of this legislation. I want the rent register to be introduced, as well as protection for students. I want the Minister to give us an indication with regard to rent pressure zones and to the protection of tenants from significant increases, which people in Limerick city have had to deal with since the original legislation came in at the end of 2016.

We are talking about vulnerable people in the private rented sector. They are desperate to hold on to the home they have, even if the rent is a far higher percentage of their income than it should be. They are terrified that if they have to move, they will not find anywhere to live near their own community or job because of the current housing situation. We need to protect our tenants and, insofar as we can, give security of tenure. I hope the Minister will look at strengthening this as much as possible. On the other hand, I recognise some of the measures need to be introduced as quickly as possible. I hope the Minister will work with the Opposition to make this legislation as strong as we can and that we provide the kind of protection tenants urgently need. Many people now are squashed into the private rented sector either because they cannot afford to purchase a home, get a deposit or a loan, or because they are on local authority waiting lists but there is not a property for them. We will not be opposing this on Second Stage but we will be proposing amendments on Committee Stage. I look forward to debating these issues as we bring the Bill through the Houses.

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