Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This is a simple, one-issue Bill which deserves support from any Senator who has a genuine interest in solving the student accommodation crisis. It would prohibit, for 15 years, any application for the change of use of student accommodation to either residential accommodation or to a hostel, hotel or any other kind of tourist or short-let accommodation. As the Bill is drafted, this would also prevent such accommodation from being used in any kind of Airbnb-type letting arrangement.

I imagine most people would be amazed to hear that no such provision exists in law. The construction of student accommodation was, in times past, encouraged through the use of a generous tax incentive under section 50 of the Finance Act 1999, which was repealed in the wake of the property crash. In view of that tax break, it is surprising that no prohibition on a change of use of such accommodation back into residential units or hotels was introduced as a kind of quid pro quo. Although, I presume there was some kind of claw back provision in place to recover the tax forgone, if the use of the development was changed. If this was the case, it is a prime example of the short-sighted and often developer-led focus of planning policy during the boom years. What we wanted and need - then as now - was a good supply of student accommodation and not additional tax revenue.

There is a student accommodation crisis in our four largest cities which needs to be tackled urgently and prohibiting the conversion of existing accommodation is surely a very small step, but one which must be taken. The crisis has been exacerbated by the wider housing shortage, but the Covid pandemic also hit many students who were the victims of some very sharp practice from landlords on the refund of rent and deposits as a result of the pandemic. One of the landlords who attempted to gouge money from students was one of our third-level institutions, the University of Limerick, which only repaid €3.5 million in rent to students for accommodation they could not use due to Covid after several weeks of being publicly shamed in the media.

I have raised this before, but I would be grateful if the Minister of State could tell us whether there are measures which might be put in place to assist students who find themselves in such a position in future. Sinn Féin pressed a Private Members' Bill in the Dáil on this issue last April but the problem has not been, or begun to be, remedied by Government legislation in the interim.

I take this opportunity to raise two other connected issues. Can the Minister of State please comment on the story from Limerick in recent days about Focus Ireland outbidding Limerick City and County Council for the development of a number of houses? Reports stated the developer said rising building costs meant it could not fulfil the contract with the council and only a new contract with Focus Ireland at a higher price would allow the development to continue. It is a strange world indeed, if housing charities are in a stronger position than local authorities to purchase houses or commission their construction. I would be grateful if the Minister of State had a comment on that.

I will also mention the vacant site levy and the plans to phase this out. I proposed amendments, as the Minister of State may recall, to various housing legislation earlier this year which would have introduced an element of self-assessment into the application of the existing charge, to increase the revenue generated and reduce the widespread avoidance of the levy. At the time, when the Minister of State did not accept my amendment, he said the Government was looking at a way to improve the situation. I acknowledge that commitment has been met. The budget has proposed a new 3% zoned land tax which will be phased in over a three-year period. I am somewhat sceptical about how this will work in practice. Is this new tax not just a rebranding of the vacant site levy, while simultaneously cutting the rate from 7% to 3%? I am also sceptical about the two- to three-year phasing in of the tax.

All of that said, I am glad to see a willingness to change the vacant site levy because it was virtually useless in how it operated in practice. I hope this new tax will free up land for development, including student accommodation. I welcome and support this legislation.