Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

137. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department has a register of funds and persons that own the requisite levels of properties as to be potentially affected by the recent amendment of section 35A of the Residential Tenancy Act, the so called Tyrrelstown amendment; and the safeguards or deterrents in place to prevent such an entity transferring stock to multiple holding companies with each one selling off nine units thereby defeating the objective of the amendment. [2472/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In relation to a register of owners who might be affected by the recent amendment of section 35A of the Residential Tenancies Act, my Department does not hold or collate the information requested. Insofar as the information may be available from the Residential Tenancies Board, the Clerk of the Dáil has requested that arrangements be put in place to facilitate the provision of information by State Bodies to members of the Oireachtas. Following the issue of Circular LG (P) 05/16 on 20 September 2016 from my Department, the RTB have set up a dedicated email address for this purpose at OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie.

The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 was signed by the President on 23 December 2016. It gives effect to a number of commitments related to tenant security contained in Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, and in the Strategy for the Rental Sector, which was published in December 2016.

The Act includes measures to prevent a future recurrence of situations where large numbers of residents in a single development are simultaneously served with termination notices to facilitate vacant possession and sale of the property. In this regard, the Act provides that, where a landlord proposes to sell 10 or more units in a development at the same time (i.e. classified as being within a 6-month period), the sales will be conditional on the existing tenants remaining in situ, other than in exceptional circumstances. This will prevent large numbers of tenancy terminations occurring at the same time and the consequent difficulty that tenants would have in finding new accommodation. This provision came into effect on 17 January 2017.

The operation of these provisions will be kept under review by my Department.