Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is almost ten times the number in 2011 when Fine Gael took office. If the crisis is not resolved soon, we should not be surprised if the rental crisis becomes the new Irish Water.

I have listened to the contributions of the Minister of State and various other Senators and accept that the issue of rent certainty is complex. Since Committee Stage I have examined it in more detail and I am impressed by the well developed and extensive proposal for the introduction of rent certainty drawn up by Threshold, the national housing charity, which includes, as per the amendment, linking rents with the consumer price index, on which it expands. It notes that the current rent regulatory measures provided for under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 do not protect landlords or tenants from rapid increases or decreases in market rent levels, thereby exposing tenants to the risk of homelessness and landlords to uncertainty in their rental income. According to Threshold, there is no obstacle, either under the Constitution or the European Convention on Human Rights, to the introduction of rent certainty measures, provided such measures amount to a proportionate interference with the exercise by landlords of their property rights.

Threshold's proposal reads:

Rent certainty measures may be introduced by amending the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide for:

- the insertion of definitions of ‘rent’, ‘lawful rent’, ‘reference rent’, and ‘deposit’;

- the creation and publication of an index of reference rents by the Private Residential Tenancies Board, drawn from the existing register of tenancies, whereby landlords and tenants may determine the average market rent for comparable properties in similar locations over the preceding four year period;

- the setting of initial rents at the market level for comparable properties in similar locations;

- the making of regulations by the Minister ... whereby initial rents in areas with high levels of demand and low levels of supply may be determined by means of the index of reference rents;

- the determination of the rate of increase in rent during the lifetime of a tenancy with reference to the annual percentage change in the consumer price index...

Threshold's proposal obviously covers much more and I accept that we need to get the rent certainty mechanism right. I am willing not to press the amendment if the Minister of State commits to including Threshold's proposal in the upcoming rental strategy. I believe Senator Colette Kelleher gave him a copy and I am sure he has read it inside out. Action on this issue cannot wait. We know that from Sunday, 4 December, for some, the two-year rent freeze will start to end. Rebuilding Ireland promised a rental strategy by the end of the fourth quarter, which is only four weeks away. I urge the Minister of State to incorporate this detailed proposal from Threshold in the rental strategy that is needed without delay.