Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

599. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the national policy towards professionalising the private rental sector, to include issues such as investment, and the standards and regulations being developed by his Department and the Housing Agency as part of Construction 2020; and when publication of the policy is expected. [24765/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The private rental sector has grown to become a major component of the housing market meeting the accommodation needs of approximately one-fifth of all households. Close to one-third of households living in the sector are in receipt of housing support in the form of rent supplement or other State support and so the sector is of key importance for the provision of social housing also. This is recognised in the Social Housing Strategy 2020goal to meet the needs of 75,000 households in the sector, primarily through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme. Following on from the commitment in Construction 2020to develop a national policy towards professionalising the private rental sector, the Social Housing Strategy includes an action (Action 35) to continue work on the development of this policy with the aim of increasing investment in and supporting the supply of, good quality, secure and affordable rental accommodation. The timeline for this is the fourth quarter 2015.

The governance structure established to ensure that the actions in the Social Housing Strategy are overseen and delivered includes five workstreams or working groups, each with a specific focus. The development of the policy on the private rented sector is taking place in the context of Workstream 5 which includes officials from my Department and the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform as well as representatives of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), the Housing Agency and the local authority sector.

In the period since the publication of Construction 2020, a number of reports on the future of the private rented sector have been published. Notably these include two reports by DKM Economic Consultants, commissioned by the PRTB, and a series of reports from NESC including Social Housing at the Crossroads: Possibilities for Investment, Provision and Cost Rentaland most recently, Ireland’s Private Rental Sector: Pathways to Secure Occupancy and Affordable Supply.

The latter report calls for more secure occupancy for tenants, including greater rent certainty as well as measures to increase the supply of rental housing. The recommendations put forward in these reports will be considered carefully in the context of framing a national policy on the private rented sector. My overriding objective in relation to rents is to achieve stability and sustainability in the market for the benefit of tenants, landlords and society as a whole.