Ireland’s Tenants’ Union Slams New Profit-Driven Two-Tier Rental System

Community Action Tenants’ Union Ireland (CATU), Ireland’s membership-based community and tenants’ union, has criticised recent announcements by the government that will remove new tenancies from existing rent protections.

CATU has said that this is the first step in pushing back on what limited rental protections exist for the b enefit of landlords and creates a two-tier rental system between new and old tenancies. In legislation that went before cabinet yesterday, the government has revealed that for tenancies in housing built after a certain date there will be no Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) protection, and rent will be tied to inflation, in order to incentivise further private investment in the market.

National Committee member John Bohan said:
“The government is empowering corporate landlords and private investor funds at the expense of tenants’ wages. If there will be no rent controls applied to newly constructed homes, then tenants will have to unite to control rents ourselves. If corporate profits are going to be propped up by rents that take over half of our wages, then we deserve the right to collectively bargain for what that rent should be.”

CATU has however welcomed the extension of RPZs across 26 counties. CATU notes the positive engagement from Minister James Browne with its RPZ position paper, which was presented to him directly by CATU members at the union’s recent protest outside the Property Industry Ireland conference.

National Committee member Amelia Melanson said:
“Rent Pressure Zones are the bare minimum. While extending them to apply for all existing tenancies is better than lifting them wholesale, they still allow for a guaranteed 2% increase in rent for landlords and will not address the problem of high rents. Rents need to be cut and capped for all tenancies, and evictions banned, with no loopholes or two-tier systems.”

Melanson continued: “It seems the government is feeling the pressure of a growing movement on housing and the potential blowback of implementing measures that will force an even greater number of people into homelessness. It is clear that the voice of organised tenants can no longer be ignored.”

CATU also welcomes the proposal to strengthen security of tenure for tenants of large landlords. We understand from our Eviction Nation report, which has been presented to the Housing Agency, that landlords with multiple properties carry out the vast majority of evictions in Ireland. However, CATU believes that an eviction ban must be extended to protect all tenants and renters equally, not just those in new builds. Evictions contribute heavily to the continuously rising homelessness figures, which exceeded 15,500 (including nearly 5000 homeless children) in May. Without an eviction ban, the Union remains sceptical of the government’s attempt to limit the economic incentive for landlords to evict.

According to one member who wished to remain anonymous:
“I’m concerned that my landlord will try to evict me so that he can increase the rent. The government may be trying to prevent this, however I have been informally evicted before by being emotionally pressured by a landlord who refused to do maintenance. We know that landlords are already evicting in order to re-let their properties at higher rents than what the current RPZ legislation should allow. Unless the government introduces a strong system of enforcement or manages to plug the many eviction loopholes, these measures will only exacerbate the homelessness catastrophe”

CATU member Steph Collins said:
“We cannot continue to rely on tenants as cash cows to prop up government failure. We already have some of the highest rents in Europe, with many people paying more than half their income to keep a roof over their heads. There is no incentive for the market to lower rents and these new rules will make it easier for landlords and developers to make ever greater amounts of money off the backs of renters. Public housing, accessible as a right and not a privilege, is the only solution. Support the national housing demonstration on the 5th of July in Dublin to demand more.”

CATU has written to Minister James Browne requesting a copy of the proposed legislation for further analysis of how it may affect their members.

CATU is organising a national demonstration on housing in Dublin for the 5th of July calling for greater protections for renters, a strong system of rent controls, and a greater delivery of public housing among other demands.