Brian Stanley warns bill will unleash rack-renting and evictions

Minister, you may not have noticed, and maybe Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael have not noticed, that tenants already in private rented accommodation are under huge stress. And if things weren't bad enough, you're going to now throw them to the mercy of rack renting landlords from the 1st of March. Whatever limits and whatever calming effect that the rent pressure zones had, and that we're having on slowing down rent increases across the country, that will all be gone. New rents will be pitched to the highest in the area. The sky will be the limit. And Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, surely you know this. You know what's going on out there, the same as I do. You know what's going to happen here. Tenants going into new apartments or houses, or existing ones that become vacant, are facing extortionate increases. And tenancies don't change just every six years. You know there's a regular turnover. Average tenancies last about three and a half years. Leash renters will be particularly hard hit. Given the evidence of what is already going on in that sector in the county, many tenants are under huge pressure. And they tell me regularly about this. The fact that they have to go short of meals, they have to go short of clothes, they have to go short of a whole range of things to try and keep the roof over their head. They have to turn off the heating. The residential tenancy board figures for last year showed that rents and lease on new tenancies at one point last year, in the previous 12 months before that, had jumped 16.7% higher, higher than existing tenancies. The latest figures on new rents in lease show that there's had to be another 14.3% increase on them over existing tenancies. That's the current situation before we get to the 1st of March. And the market rent, let me tell you what it is. A one-bedroom apartment, a crummy one-bedroom apartment, $1,750 a month. A three-bedroom house in Kilminchy, $2,100 a month. A four-bedroom house in Foxborough, $2,500 a month. And there have been, you know, we've had the highest eight-quarter increases in rent in the county that we've ever seen. This is despite the fact that we have RPZs at the moment, that we're in rent pressure zones. The race is on for landlords to get to the top of the market, the market rent. And the annual increases, on top of all that, there can be annual increases of up to 2%. Who, in the name of God Minister, you know, can afford that? But this is going to cause catastrophe for people. Existing tenants of homes and apartments will be put under huge pressure also to put higher rents. I know that you're putting in measures that you say will cause tenancy security. But you and I know how it works. You and I know how the landlords are going to apply pressure here. And there will be strategic evictions and notices to quit. Because people will not be able to pay their rent. And I'd ask Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, I would appeal to you not to push through this legislation, this is going to hurt tens of thousands of households who are already trying to keep their head above the waterline in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It's a real difficulty for younger people who are over the income threshold for social housing. And they have no hope of ever being able to save for a deposit. And Fianna Fáil talk about home ownership and Fianna Gael. You may forget about it because they won't be able to save for the deposit. They're trapped in private rented accommodation. Also increasing numbers of people, and I'm sure you two ministers are seeing this, increasing numbers of people who are gone past middle age. I'm coming to come to me and elderly people who are paying massive rents. Where are they going to go when they hit pension age, Minister? The government's contention is that the increase in supply of housing will reduce rents. Well, the evidence doesn't support that. And the evidence of the Rockets Committee didn't show that. And also, during 2003 to 2007, the construction of new homes that were built hit record levels, hitting over 90,000 in one year. Did rents go down? Not a hope. They didn't. They were increased dramatically. That's what happened. The only beneficiaries of this legislation would be large rack rents and landlords. I appeal to you in particular, Minister, you know, Section 8 of that bill, Section 8 of that bill, which I read, is absolutely shocking. And it's going to put huge pressure on people. What I'm asking you to do is this. Do not try to force through this bill, in particular Section 8. Introduce effective rent controls for counties like Leash, where rents are rocketing in it. Increase the support to Leash County Council and other councils around the country to build an increasing number of cost-rental homes and improve the affordability scheme for the cost for the affordability to buy of housing. I want to see more home ownership. I want to see more rented housing. I want to see people in secure accommodation. But this bill will not do it. You're going to pile pressure on them. And I'm saying that to you. I'm not just coming in here to have a go. I'm saying this because of what I see happening on the ground. Thank you. Thank you.