Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Sinn Féin group for tabling this motion and the Minister of State for being in the House. It is important to discuss the wider issue of housing policy, especially when it relates to the private rental sector. Since I was elected to this House nearly a year ago, there have been Bills to amend the Residential Tenancies Act twice but there has not been a wider discussion about housing policy. This debate is both needed and timely.

First, I want to address the eviction ban and tying it to the 5 km limit. While most of us anticipate the ability to move and to see people beyond the 5 km, some families are dreading the lifting of the ban and the potential flood of evictions that will happen when this pandemic is over. A welcome but unintended consequence of the pandemic was the response of homeless services. The fact that fewer families are entering homelessness is due to the protections contained in the eviction ban. If we lift the 5 km limit, we will lift that ban.

I know of a family, a couple and two kids, who are only in a house at present because the eviction ban is in place. The father has been served notice for substantial renovations but he thinks that is just an excuse. By the time any adjudication is made by the Residential Tenancies Board, that family will not have anywhere to go. On the same road, a single parent who has lived there for eight years is worried about being kicked out. She is in receipt of the housing assistance payment, HAP. Her landlord mentioned that he is thinking of selling up and moving to Spain. When she told me the story, I checked the property price register and the landlord had paid less than €100,000 for the house at the bottom of the market. He has made his money back in rent many times in the eight years she has lived there as a rental tenant with HAP, yet she will face homelessness and he will walk off with the guts of a €300,000 profit compared with what he paid for it. That is the rental market today.

When I listen to Government party Members talk about the balance between landlords and tenants, I note the market and the property rights we are facing. If the property rights of landlords are restricting us from being able to give tenants decency in their own home, let us progress the referendum on the right to housing. The Opposition in this House tried twice to give the Minister the power to implement an eviction ban based on regulations and public health advice but not to have it be tied to the 5 km limit. There is no legal or political reason it has to be the case, despite what has been said. I urge the Government, as we are moving on and vaccines are rolling out, to plan effectively for coming out of restrictions to ensure we will not see an increase in homelessness, including family homelessness, as a result of the lifting of the ban. This must be priority number one because, as a result of the pandemic, we have fallen behind with the construction of both public and private housing that we desperately need. I am not blaming the Government for that but I am saying we can plan effectively for the lifting of the eviction ban. Let us not leave people to the ravages of the market again.

There is a difference in power between landlords and tenants. One is living in a home he or she does not own while it is an investment for the other. Senator Warfield quite rightly pointed out that the deposit protection scheme has been promised and legislated for by my colleague, Deputy Kelly, for the past five years but no more progress has been made on the scheme. Queries on deposits increased by 43% last year, according to Threshold. People feel vulnerable and people who are living in rental accommodation feel afraid. I want to discuss the two flagship initiatives of this Government regarding housing. At the moment, the Land Development Agency, LDA, Bill states that a minimum of 50% must be affordable to buy. A proposed change to Part 5 to 20% is very welcome. However, as the LDA Bill is currently drafted, the other 30% could be sold on to private developers. Many members of the Government do not want to see something like that happen, but we have to ensure that public housing and public land is locked in. It is proposed that only the Minister can decide whether or not to make a disposal. As it currently stands, local authority members have power over that. I urge the Government to consider accepting amendments which will ensure there is 100% public housing on public land and drop the proposal to stop local authority members having power over disposals.

The Affordable Housing Bill provides that any housing must be below market rent. However, that is almost €2,000 per month in Dublin, €1,500 in Cork and €1,400 in Galway. That is not affordable; market rent is not affordable. Affordability is considered to be 30% to 35% of net income. I urge the Government to look at defining affordability in both the Affordable Housing Bill and the LDA Bill to try to make sure that the housing we are building is genuinely affordable for people.