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I DON’T BELIEVE that there is a person left in the country who would argue that we aren’t in the middle of a terrible housing crisis. Every day, my office deals with individuals and families who are being made homeless, at risk of losing their home, or who are in emergency accommodation.
Almost all of these people are private renters whose landlords have ended their lease, often with very short notice. As it stands, nothing about this is illegal and some landlords are taking advantage of loopholes in current laws to evict tenants so they can increase the rental price of their properties.
What else can explain the 11% rental rise in rents in Cork in the past year. Or the 10% rise in Dublin, when the maximum year on year increase is supposed to be capped at 4%?
Calls to my office from people who are desperately searching for accommodation are increasing also. Often these people have a 28 day notice to leave hanging over them and are struggling to find anything that they can afford or is suitable for themselves and their family. Situations like this are the most common way that people end up homeless. That your home could be taken away at short notice and having no right of appeal is the reality for many up and down the country. This instability is cruel and can be especially damaging for children.
Some 895,600 people in Ireland live in rental accommodation. That is almost 20% of the population. In the past, rental in Ireland was seen as something temporary and short term. Most of the rental market was made up of students and people who were saving for a home of their own. The laws that protect the rights of tenants have not caught up with the fact that, for a lot of people through choice or necessity, renting is their housing reality. Often for the long term.
As it stands, when a person or family has been renting a home for less than six months, a landlord legally only has to give 28 days’ notice to end their tenancy. For tenancies of more than six months but less than a year, it is 35 days, and for more than a year but less than two years, it is 42 days.
Imagine, less than a month to arrange to move from your home and to find new accommodation. Anyone who has had any experience of the Irish rental market will know this prospect would make them panic given that the supply of accommodation around the country, and in Dublin in particular is dribbling to a halt.
Desperate people are vulnerable to being exploited by landlords. The Social Democrats don’t believe that the law as it stands is fair and we want to change it. That’s why we published a Bill to help strengthen tenants’ rights and ensure that proper notice is given to tenants if they have to leave their homes.
The Bill has three main parts that will improve the situation for tenants:
1. Increase minimum notice landlords need to give before they end a lease
Many other countries, where renting is common, have a minimum notice period of around three months. In France, it’s 3-6 months. In the Netherlands, it’s 3-6 months. In Germany and Sweden it’s three months.
The Social Democrats are proposing that all tenancies of under one year duration would need a 90 day notice period before a tenancy would end. This is about three times the current minimum notice period of 28 days. Tenancies of between one year and five years would require 120 days’ notice under the Bill.
This change would give people enough time to make arrangements to move out and a chance to find another property to rent without being at risk of having nowhere to go. It also reflects the reality that many are now renting for the long term.
2. Curbing unfair and illegal rent hikes in designated Rent Pressure Zones
At the moment, landlords in the country’s 21 Rent Pressure Zones may not increase rents by more than 4% a year.
The problem is there is no way that a new tenant can see if the 4% cap is being applied correctly by the landlord. This is because tenants do not have a legal right to find out how much rent the previous tenants were paying.
The Social Democrats want new tenants to be able to know the details of the amount of rent the previous tenants paid. This would ensure that the landlord isn’t increasing the rent beyond the 4% that is allowed in one year.
3. Increasing fines for breaches in minimum notice periods
Finally, the Social Democrats want to raise the maximum fine that landlords would face for breaking the rules on notice periods from €4,000 to €15,000. As profits from rents increase so too should the penalties for breaking the rules.
These are simple changes that we believe could have a big positive impact on people who live in rented accommodation. Our housing market at the moment is very dysfunctional and is unfair that families and individuals can be used as pawns in this and made homeless so landlords can increase their profits.
We are asking for cross party support on this bill in the Dáil today and we hope that all TDs can see the value in protecting the tenants who vote for them.
Róisín Shortall TD is the joint leader of the Social Democrats.
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Why is it on us? We can’t control the amount of packaging these days. Guess who can? Oh yeah!-the conpanies who package their goods. Deal with them.
@a: Totally agree that we should hold these companies accountable. I’ve even written to some companies in relation to this.
However, we can also have a huge impact by not buying products with wasteful packaging. If we don’t buy the products, they won’t keeping making them.
We should also buy more local and second hand products. Charity shops are great for Christmas shopping.
@a: Exactly, you will see ‘My M&S’ ‘My this’ & ‘My That’ but when it comes down to it you will also see ‘YOUR WASTE’ – yourwaste.ie
They don’t want the waste yet they allow it to be produced.
@a: I wrote to my local TD (a green party TD) and never received any response but this was the gist of it. More expensive everyday items you buy in the likes of Dunnes generally (but not always) comes in packaging that is recyclable- stuff such as apples etc. But your same lower priced items in Lidl/Aldi etc do not and it’s this that is making a difference. There is also confusion amongst many between the difference of ‘made from recycled material’ and ‘recyclable material’ it confuses most and the packaging can be difficult to discern based on that. The onus should be on suppliers/packaging companiez/sellers and government to make it impossible to sell in non recyclable material.
No convenient recycling facilities available for polystyrene so this still goes into the general waste. Only lip service from companies to reduce reuse recycle but the consuner gets the blame
@Dangling Damo: Even though most of the bin collectors don’t allow it they will actually separate it in the recycling center. It’s purely a cost thing so it’s not a heinous crime like including wet waste or something which can mean an entire trucks worth of recycling is ruined.
I try to avoid such packaging when I can but I don’t feel one bit bad about sending it off in the bin when I do happen to need to get rid of some and I don’t have enough other stuff to justify a run to a bring site.
Limit your contacts,
Limit your travel ,
Limit your waste ,
Sure why don’t I limit oxygen aswell while I’m at it this Christmas
@JillyBean: You could
Selection boxes drive me mad. Complete waste of cardboard and plastic.
@Caroline Otoole: Absolutely right. Yet people still buy them and blame the companies who make them for the waste.
Kids don’t care about the box. Just buy a few chocolate bars instead.
@Caroline Otoole: Not just that they are packaged using cardboard and plastic, they make the packaging oversized to make it appear you are getting more than you actually are, an even bigger waste.
I am less concerned about the cardboard, but the plastic needs to be removed.
If the Govt implemented a returns process for that kind of plastic (like 10c per pack) going back to the point of purchase, those shops would then put pressure on suppliers to produce without the plastic.
Got a package from Amazon this week that would usually be wrapped in a box or plastic bag, but this came in a paper bag. It can be done.
@Conrad Shields: actually saw a post on twitter during the week about this. It was a photo of the packaging alongside the bit of chocolate thats in one. It was quite jarring.
@Caroline Otoole: totally agree! Over sized packaging!! I don’t buy selection boxes for this reason
I am calling on all journal readers to boycott these polls until a serious controversial topic is put up for discussion. The odd seasonal topic is OK, but not a relentless diet of them.
I made a perfectly valid point and was censored by the moderator.
@SteveBuzzard: I believe the moderator is fond of a box of After Eights. Do you see where I am going with this? :-)
Celebrating with my parents this year, thankfully, and they live in a zero waste household so I have no choice.
Make up gift sets and perfume packaging are the worst offenders next to children’s toys. I’m trying as best I can to avoid buying them. It’s not easy though.
@Teresa O’Donnell-Joyce: Keep it up. All we can do is our best. We just need to be conscious consumers.
Consider making your own gift sets with individually selected products instead of prepackaged sets. It’s a much more thoughtful gift. It’s not easy and takes extra time of course. I understand that sometimes it’s just not an option.
Good luck with the Christmas shopping.
@Jim Smith: My family will be given home baking gifts. Shame about my dodgy baking skills. It’ll be fun.
Yes I won’t be buying as much food this year like tins of sweets crisps biscuits etc. Wasted do much ladt year
Will buy some nice crackers cheese and maybe some nice meats to go with.
Stove ,free heat ,end of story.
I’m bought three rolls of wrapping paper last year, and I am still using it. But then again, the gifts weren’t huge to wrap.
@Lisa Saputo: gift bags are handy as you can reuse them next year once you don’t write on the tag
Moderator doesn’t like musical notes either. We’ll it’s their loss. It was a a wonderful comment;-)
and if people cannot limit their waste by eating and drinking moderately, they can recycle personal waste by using a compost lavatory.
No
I can’t be ars@d to wrap gifts, so this poll is perfect for me. I just used gift bags, that my Mammy saves and reuses the next Christmas!! We have been doing are bit for ages and didn’t even know it. Lol
I can’t be ars@d to wrap gifts, so this poll is perfect for me. I just used gift bags, that my Mammy saves and reuses the next Christmas!! Lol
have your say