Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

As my colleague, Deputy Pringle, has said, the housing crisis has not come about by accident. It is in fact a result of deliberate policy decisions by successive governments dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the interests of landlords, property speculators, developers and the private for-profit banks. The housing crisis is not a failure of policy from the point of view of these people. The aim of creating a landlord class and driving people into the private rental sector has been a success. Since the year 2000 there has been a 21% increase in the sector. One in five now rents in the private rental sector. The policy of enticing vulture funds and cuckoo funds into the sector with tax breaks and access to NAMA properties has also been a success for these people and institutions. In 2010, investors bought 10% of property; now it is 25%. High rents are a necessary factor in this policy, hence the reluctance to take effective action to curb spiralling rents. The 4% cap in rent pressure zones, RPZs, was a mechanism which allowed landlords to increase rents yearly. It did not apply outside the zones and it did not apply to new properties coming onto the market. The proposed policy of linking rent increases to the rate of inflation is welcome, as it is the norm in Europe. It is a step forward, but it is like all measures proposed so far by the Government – too little, too late. Again, it will not apply to new rental properties.

Inflation is likely to rise as the economy comes out of lockdown and we could easily see inflation of more than 2% next year. The situation is an emergency and it needs an emergency response. Rent should be frozen for a three-year period, as proposed in the Bill, to give renters a break. A rent freeze is necessary and welcome, but it is not a solution to the general crisis. I accept it is not suggested that the proposal in the Bill is the solution, but it is part of solving the crisis. For a start, there must be recognition that a reliance on the private rental sector has been good for the vested interests involved. However, it has been an unmitigated disaster for people seeking to put a roof over their heads and seeking a place to call home.

The State has the resources to transform the situation. Let us take NAMA for example. NAMA is completely State-owned. It has paid off its debts. It owns 747 acres of land. It has 30,000 units under development or in the planning process. NAMA should be used by the State as a key element in a national strategy to provide affordable homes to rent or buy. NAMA is currently selling 54 apartments in Finglas in Dublin as a block and, most likely, they will be bought by a fund and rented out at the highest rent possible. These apartments should be sold to an approved housing body or a local authority to be used as cost rental housing or public housing. A national strategy by the State to build affordable houses by using the existing public lands held by NAMA and the local authorities to build at least 20,000 units a year for the next five years would have a significant effect on reducing rents and house prices generally.

The problems in the private rental sector do not just relate to unaffordable rents. A recent study by UCD and Maynooth University shows that 80% of renters do not feel secure in their tenancies. The ban on evictions made no real difference in reducing their sense of insecurity. They did not trust the landlords to comply. One in four felt that where they lived was not a home and one in five said they had a bad relationship with their landlord. We need legislative change urgently to give long-term security of tenure. In particular, we must remove the right of a landlord to evict tenants through the sale of the property. We need an effective vacant property tax to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use. We also need an increase in the vacant site tax to penalise land hoarding. These issues are not addressed in the Bill, but a rent freeze must be an essential part of a new radical strategy to solve this crisis. I commend Deputy Ó Broin on introducing the Bill to the Dáil.

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