Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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65. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if regulations will be provided to protect the rights of students renting accommodation in an owner-occupied home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47212/18]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Will the Minister provide for regulations to protect the rights of students renting accommodation in owner-occupied homes or so-called digs?

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Pillar 4 of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which was published in July 2016, focuses on the supply of rented accommodation and includes actions to enhance the supply of student accommodation. The national student accommodation strategy was subsequently launched in July 2017 by the Minister for Education and Skills. The strategy sets a target to facilitate 4,000 students in availing of digs accommodation by the end of 2019, thereby freeing up accommodation in the traditional rental sector. Joint funding of €160,000 for 2017 and 2018 has been committed to the Union of Students in Ireland by the Department of Education and Skills and my Department to finance a full-time student housing officer, the #homesforstudy campaign and training for student accommodation officers. An additional provision has been made for the UCD Students' Union, which is outside the USI. The campaign involved leaflets being delivered to homeowners in targeted locations throughout the country highlighting the potential to earn up to €14,000 tax free under the rent-a-room scheme.

Traditionally, students residing in digs or family homes benefit from the goodwill that exists to ensure both students and homeowners are happy with the arrangement. It is possible for the arrangements to be formalised by way of a licence between the parties, but this is a matter of choice for the parties themselves to agree on.

I do not consider that there is a need for a legal regulatory framework in this area.

Digs accommodation is an integral housing solution for students as well as an important source of revenue and, in some circumstances, social interaction for homeowners. Any attempt at regulating "digs" is highly likely to impact negatively on the supply of this traditional and important source of student accommodation.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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The Minister says there is no need for a legal framework and talks about a working alliance with USI. Has he asked USI whether it feels there is a need for a legal framework because, increasingly, I hear about issues and problems that are arising in the digs sector? One in ten students lives in digs. This is not surprising given the fact that the major student accommodation providers in city centres are charging more than €1,000 per month. Students in digs can be evicted at a moment's notice, subjected to rent hikes at short notice with no rent caps applying and have no right to appeal to the RTB if the deposit is not returned to them. There are forms of exploitation in some digs arrangements such as students being asked to mow the lawn, collect the groceries or mind children, all of which are over and above the agreed rent, so there is a need for a regulatory framework and I would like to comment on the examples I have given.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In my interactions with the students union in UCD last year, I do not think the need for regulation was raised with me. The Minister of State, Deputy English, informs me that he does not recall it being raised with him during his meetings with USI. If one in ten students currently lives in student digs, we want to increase that number. We want to reach that target of 4,000 by the end of 2019 because it is a much-needed source of accommodation. Traditionally, it is a cheaper source of accommodation than some of the types of accommodation being built at the moment - the purpose-built student accommodation. We are working on possible text for inclusion as an amendment to see if we can apply rent caps to purpose-built student accommodation similar to those that apply in the rental sector today but the informality of digs work for both sides in many cases. It is not just from a financial point of view; it is also from a social point of view. Anything that might undermine that supply of accommodation could be much more detrimental to students. Less student accommodation will cause further pressure in terms of prices for student accommodation and cause further problems for students who cannot source any accommodation so it will not solve the problem we have at the moment, which involves providing more student spaces. This is happening and we know this because of the numbers that are being delivered. A total of 5,500 have been delivered under the new strategy launched in 2016 and 4,800 are under construction. We need these as well as more digs.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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I would say that students should have legal protection for their deposits; rent controls should apply; if there are grounds for eviction, they should not be unlimited; and any student should be entitled to a reasonable notice period. The last census showed that 8% of homeless persons in the State were students, which is incredible.

The Minister said that he has not been asked to regulate it by either the students union in UCD or USI so I will turn that question on its head. If they ask for some form of regulation, is it something the Minister would be prepared to comply with or give very serious consideration to?

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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If a request is made to me, of course, I will consider it but it would have to be based on a significant amount of evidence. We could bring in something that could as an unintended consequence undermine the supply of those types of homes completely. To give tenancy rights to a student who might only live in the home for a number of months of the year and all of a sudden open them to the rights under the Residential Tenancies Act whereby they could be there for up to six years without serving things like a notice to quit and giving the formal periods involved in that could mean that a lot of people, for example, elderly people, who have students staying in their accommodation might not even think of that because for their own safety and security, they would want the ability to evict a student if the relationship between that person and the student, who is living in that person's home, has broken down. We must be careful in respect of bringing in something that might end up undermining supply in the first place even though the measure is intended as a protection. If something is brought to me for consideration, I will consider it as Minister with responsibility for this area and consult with the Minister for Education and Skills.