Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Every weekend I meet families whose deadlines for eviction are in a few weeks or few months time. For some it was the end of January, now it is the end of February or the end of March, April, May and so on. Many of these families facing eviction have children some of whom are up to the late teens. Some mothers and fathers bring these children with them to my information clinics. It is sad and appalling to see the distress in the faces of these children as the family faces eviction, homelessness and grave uncertainty. Even simple tasks such as storing food or getting to school or work become a nightmare when a family is in accommodation for the homeless. In many of the cases I represent, landlords give the usual excuses of requiring a house or apartment back for a relative or for themselves. However, after the eviction, the properties are often immediately let out again for from €1,300 to €1,500 or €1,600 a month, way above Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council rent supplement rates. Increasingly, landlords simply say they want to maximise rents and that rent supplement rates are far too low.

The Minister of State is eight months in office and this is all still happening. The social housing strategy 2020 is still just aspirational talk, task forces and meetings. Rent supplement accommodation has long dried up, with rents in Dublin Bay North and other urban constituencies now soaring 30% above 2012 levels and almost back close to Celtic tiger levels. For example, for quarter three of 2014, daft.ieput rent for a three bedroom house in Dublin 3 at €1,655 a month, in Dublin 5 at €1,418 a month, in Dublin 13 at €1,352 a month and in Dublin 17 at €1,275 a month. On the Minister of State's watch, we still have 20,000 families and citizens seeking accommodation in this city and some 89,000 seeking accommodation nationally. We have 359 homeless families and 780 children in hostel, guest house or hotel accommodation in Dublin on this day. The Minister and Minister of State are personally responsible for the suffering of these people.

It was always grossly unfair of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, to use rent supplement limits as a crude and useless form of rent regulation. In response to parliamentary questions I put today regarding rent regulation, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, said he is monitoring the rental market very closely. He also referred to the Private Rental Tenancies Board's "Do You Know" campaign through which tenants who are anxious that rent increases in excess of market rents are being charged should contact the PRTB. What will they gain by that? This is a feeble and useless response on the part of the Ministers.

Last week, Senator Aideen Hayden held a very informative briefing on what she called the "third generation" model of rent regulation and on how rent regulation works in Europe. There, rent regulation offers security of tenure to tenant and landlord and increases, or decreases, are fair and usually linked to the consumer price index. I learned from that briefing that the report of the Constitution review group of 1996, the report of the commission on the private rented residential sector of 2000, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution ninth report of 2004 and the DKM Economic Consultants report, Rent Stability in the Private Rented Sector 2014, which the Minister of State has on his desk, all agree that the form of rent control sanctioned by the Rent Restrictions Acts 1946-1967 was unconstitutional but that fair and proportionate rent control is not unconstitutional. I understand the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 is to be amended and I believe we clearly need some form of rent regulation included in that Act. I have no problem in regard to amending the Constitution so that the rights of property are amended to ensure the kind of savage rents being imposed on vulnerable families in Dublin and other cities are unacceptable and not allowed to happen.

In countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark - most of our EU partners - rents are linked to the cost of living and all these countries have reasonably healthy rental markets. It is clear that the greedy madness which enveloped Dublin rental markets in the mid-noughties, which is again threatening our society, would not be tolerated by any of our EU partners. I urge the Minister of State and the Minister to sit down together and to bring forward serious proposals in regard to the regulation of rent in this country.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The main cause of rising rents is a lack of supply in the market. The Deputy mentioned the social housing strategy 2020, which was published last November. This is not just a strategy.

It sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list. In addition, the implementation of the range of actions under the Government's Construction 2020 Strategy will support increased supply in the wider housing market. We will be expecting local authorities throughout the country to come forward with proposals in the coming weeks to seriously ramp up the provision of social housing.

The private rented sector is an important element of the housing market, with the proportion of households in the sector almost doubling in the period from 2006 to 2011. I am very conscious of the difficulties caused by rising rents. In the third quarter of 2014, rents were 5.6% higher nationally than in the same quarter of 2013, according to the most recent rent index from the Private Residential Tenancies Board. Rents for houses were 4.3% higher while apartment rents were 7.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2013. In Dublin, which is seeing the highest rates of increase nationally, overall rents were higher by 9.5% although the rate of annual increase was down slightly.

The Government is monitoring the rental market closely and is considering all options in order to achieve greater rent certainty, which is in the interests of tenants. The options put forward in the report, Rent Stability in the Private Rented Sector, commissioned by the PRTB and published in autumn 2014, form part of these considerations. My overriding objective is to achieve stability and sustainability in the rental market for the benefit of tenants, landlords and society as a whole. In this regard, we need to be cognisant of the possible negative impacts of rent regulation, including the impact on supply and the potential for black market transactions.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants relating to security of tenure, termination of tenancies, rent and rent reviews. The ongoing development of a stable, well-regulated rented sector is a key goal for the Government. The legal framework set out in the 2004 Act represented the most significant legislative reform in the private rented sector in over a century. Prior to this there was little or no security of tenure for tenants and in most tenancies the landlord had a virtually absolute right to raise the rent at any time. That is not the case at present.

The 2004 Act clearly provides that rents may not be greater than the open-market rate and may only be reviewed upwards or downwards once a year, unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation that warrants a review. The Act also provides that a tenant must be given 28 days' notice of new rent. These provisions have effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in a lease or tenancy agreement.

People under threat of eviction have rights under law with regard to their tenancies. The PRTB is undertaking a national campaign to ensure that tenants are aware of their rights and do not leave a house prematurely or at the whim of a landlord. We take this issue very seriously and I thank the Deputy for raising it in the Dáil today.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Clearly the lack of housing supply is the key problem and the total output for 2014, which included the first six months of the Minister of State's tenure, was 11,000 units. There is talk of about 15,000 units for 2015 which is not even half good enough. The Minister of State has now at his disposal €300 million from the EIB and the Government, and he has established a working group with the nine major voluntary housing agencies and the local authorities.

However, we want no more talk. Let us have some action because nothing is happening. There have been endless meetings. In my area, Dublin Bay North, which represents about a quarter of Dublin city, we have seen nothing. There has been nothing so far in the north fringe. There may be ten or 20 houses and 40 apartments coming forward in an area which has 5,000 families on the housing list. That is the nub of the problem.

Last week the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Honohan, published the new mortgage rules. Did the Minister of State or his Department have any input into those rules because many observers feel that one of the net effects will be to price many young families out of buying their own homes in urban areas and thereby further increase the demand for rental property? Up to 40% of homes in the Dublin area are now rented.

On 25 January, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive stated that 359 families with a total of 780 dependent children were in emergency accommodation. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, always seems to be very interested in his legacy. His legacy at the moment is that during his period of Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government one family in this city became homeless every day.

It seems clear from the constitutional advice - the advice of lawyers at the well-attended briefing organised by Senator Hayden - that there is no constitutional impediment to us introducing serious real rent regulation, as opposed to the timid efforts of Fianna Fáil in 2004, to give us a modern rented sector as exists in Germany and many of other European states. We want action now - no more talk.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

With due respect, this is the first social housing strategy in a generation. I commend the Government and in particular the Minister, Deputy Kelly, on the work they have done in ring-fencing significant funds. This is a significant commitment by Government to address the social housing deficit. The Deputy should at least make some acknowledgement of those efforts. To say on the floor of the House that nothing is being done is far from the truth; quite an amount is being done.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State should come out to my constituency.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The strategy has been put in place. The funding has been provided.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are queues of homeless people.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government has reiterated its commitment.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We will visit the homeless families in the hotels and guesthouses.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We are now engaged with local authorities, approved housing bodies and every other stakeholder that can contribute to offering solutions to the huge social housing deficit. We will deliver on that because the next phase of that implementation is about to be rolled out in coming weeks. The Deputy will see in his constituency as in other constituencies, the start of that delivery.

This year alone, the social housing strategy will provide more than 7,000 social housing units and a further 8,500 units will be secured under the HAP scheme. The total housing provision will result in an investment of almost €800 million across a range of housing programmes. So the Deputy should acknowledge that there is a lot of action.

As I mentioned earlier, a recent PRTB poll found that only 64% of tenants are aware of their rights under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Having regard to these findings the PRTB is developing a national communications strategy to ensure that tenants are aware of their rights and are not being removed from their homes, as the Deputy says, at the whim of a landlord. We will monitor the rental situation closely and will take action where we feel it appropriate.