Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the action he plans to take to slow down the disorderly exit of accidental and semi-professional landlords from the private rented sector and its impact on rising levels of homelessness. [3576/22]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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As the Minister knows, since 2017 there has been a net loss of 20,000 rental tenancies from the private rental sector. That equates to about 7,000 a year up to 2020. We do not have data from the Residential Tenancies Board for last year but the expectation is that the rate will continue. Given this loss of rental properties is one of the many factors contributing to the crisis in the private rental sector and is driving the recent upsurge in homelessness, will the Minister outline his plan to stop this disorderly exit of accidental and semi-professional landlords from the market?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has rightly highlighted the ongoing issue of the exiting of many mom-and-pop landlords from the housing market. It is not a recent event but has continued for the past number of years. As he will know, the property rights of owners are protected under the Constitution and landlords need to be in a position to manage their property to suit their financial needs as they change with their particular life circumstances. Covid-19 has badly affected some landlords, and financial pressures may have forced them to sell a rental property. Some of the evidence we have indicates that this is the case, particularly with the rising values of house prices.

The exiting of landlords from the private rental sector is a consequence of multiple factors. A changing regulatory environment, which has been necessary to ensure a fair and effective residential rental sector that balances tenants' rights and landlords' responsibilities, has resulted in a challenging compliance framework for some. Covid-related protections were also necessary but they may have contributed to the decision of some to leave the sector. In other cases, the recent rise in house prices has enabled some landlords to take the opportunity to exit negative equity. As a consequence, many have taken the opportunity to unwind their investment.

The most effective way to assist renters in the medium to long term is to increase supply and accelerate delivery of housing for the private and social rental sectors. Our housing plan, Housing for All, sets out the Government's plan to increase supply and to deliver an average of 33,000 homes per year over the next decade. As the Deputy will know, the plan also brought forward the introduction of a new cost-rental sector, which we intend to expand this year and into the next and beyond, the legislative framework for which was set out in the Affordable Housing Act. I will address a couple of other issues in a supplementary response.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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None of what the Minister said addressed the core question I asked. What is the plan to deal with the disorderly exit of semi-professional and accidental landlords from the market, something that has been in train for three years and will more than likely continue for four years? The argument that supply will tackle the problem simply does not add up. The Government's housing plan promises 6,500 new private rental homes, a target that will probably be reached around 2025 or 2026. However, we are losing 7,000 units a year. Therefore, it would take the Government three years to catch up the current loss and it would still be behind. If the Government reaches these targets, and the loss of properties to the market continues, the situation will continue to get worse. Sherry FitzGerald made it clear today that there are three times more exits from the private rental sector than there are entries to it. There are a range of strategies and actions that I and others have been urging the Minister to take but, like his predecessor, he has ignored them. What specifically will he do to slow the exit of these landlords from the private rental sector and tackle rising levels of family homelessness?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I struggle to find the range of measures the Deputy says he has proposed to assist landlords. In the 12-page document, which includes five pages of pictures, that the Deputy submitted on Housing for All the only mention of landlords is his proposal to commission the Housing Agency to do a report. The only other measure the Deputy has ever brought forward in relation to landlords was in his pre-budget submission. Sinn Féin wanted to impose a €400 tax on the mom-and-pop landlords, yet the Deputy now bemoans their loss to the sector. Let us be straight with people. The changes the Government bring forward must be calibrated to balance the rights of the property owner and the tenant. Throwaway comments and the demonisation of mom-and-pop landlords that the Deputy and others have engaged in have an effect. Proposals he has brought forward from time to time on extended three-year rent freezes and other measures scare the market. We need to build supply and cost-rental housing. I repeat to the Deputy that the only measure he suggested is for a report to be done on what is happening. The only other real measure he has proposed for landlords is to add a €400 tax on top of all the other bills they have.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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What that shows is that the Minister has no plan and landlords will continue to sell up.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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We have stated a fact though.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I have repeatedly called for four key policies. The Minister knows them but I will repeat them again. The first is to end the prohibition on local authorities buying properties with housing assistance payment, HAP, or rental accommodation scheme, RAS, tenants in situ when the landlord is selling. Many landlords who are leaving the market would be delighted for the local authority to purchase the property but the Government will not allow local authorities to purchase them with a sitting tenant. That is driving family homelessness and making the situation worse.

The second key policy is to allow buy-to-let landlords who availed of tax reliefs from the State at an earlier stage to sell the tenant with the tenant in situ. They got a break from the State and the return should be to sell to other landlords. Third, we have repeatedly called for tax reform for landlords. It is not acceptable that real estate investment trusts and large institutional landlords pay no tax, whereas many accidental and semi-permanent landlords pay very high rates.

We have not called for the commission of a report. What we have called for is much more specific. We want the Residential Tenancies Board and the Housing Agency to bring their expertise to bear on Government, which is clearly lacking, to produce a strategy, with the Government and Opposition, to stop the disorderly exit.

We have outlined our proposals. Does the Government have any proposals? What is its plan to stop this crisis?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Ó Broin's proposals are fairly threadbare - let us be straight about it. In the Deputy's submission, he proposes to commission "the Housing Agency to undertake research into the disorderly exit of landlords". That is it. The other measure is a €400 tax. What we are doing is delivering 300,000 new homes between now and 2030, including private rental properties, and rolling out cost rental at scale, for which we already have cost-rental affordable tenants in place. Last week, more tenants moved into their homes in Kildare in what was the second tranche of cost rental provision. We will deliver more than 1,750 new cost-rental homes in 2022 and more in each subsequent year. That is what we intend to do.

We must also increase supply across the board. We produced a plan, Housing for All, that invests €4 billion in new housing while the Deputy's submission suggests a €2.8 billion investment from Sinn Féin. Let us be honest with people. All Deputy Ó Broin has been doing is demonising landlords and now he is bemoaning the effect that has had. We need a stable rental market as well as affordable homes for working people, and that is what this Government is about to deliver.