Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In today's housing crisis it is clear that many people, as things stand, will probably never be in a position to own their own home. House prices have risen so high that many people find it difficult even to put together a deposit. I hear regularly in my constituency office how a professional couple earning what would otherwise be regarded as good incomes are struggling even to get a mortgage. If the couple have any children, the additional cost of childcare makes it almost impossible under current Government policies to get on the property ladder. Therefore, many people are now forced to rent rather than buy and are faced with spiralling rent costs. Many rents are greater than what monthly mortgage repayments would amount to. In this precarious and dysfunctional housing and rental sector, many people are no more than a rent payment away from being made homeless. Rental prices in Dublin average €2,000 per month. The national average monthly rent stood at €1,443 in the first quarter of 2021, a rise of almost 95% in a ten-year period. Rents across the country have risen on average by 7% in the second quarter of 2021.

There has always been an element of insecurity for renters, who are dependent on landlords. In the current dysfunctional environment, insecurity of tenure has never been greater. Renters need greater security over their tenancies. They need proper rent controls and proper regulation over their rents. Renters face ever-increasing financial burdens as the cost of living increases, with renters having to pay for childcare, school costs, healthcare, transport costs, bigger bills for utilities and much more. Sinn Féin has put forward proposals to help hard-pressed renters who need a break. We can go some way towards helping renters by freezing rents for three years and banning rent increases for all new and existing tenancies. Sinn Féin has also put forward proposals that would put a month's rent back into every renter's pocket through a refundable tax credit.

Rent pressure zones have failed and should be scrapped. Recent reports have highlighted the lack of compliance by landlords with rent pressure zone legislation. Pressure on the sector is increasing as recent figures show a decline in the availability of low-cost properties as landlords exit the sector. The 2% cap on rent increases will have a limited effect on rising rents as there are too many loopholes, which leaves the door open to runaway rents, as will linking rent increases to inflation. If inflation continues to rise, so will rents, so neither of the proposed measures in this Bill will be as effective as a rent freeze and neither will give renters the relief they urgently require.

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