A NEW INSPECTION system for landlords, as well as an overhaul of grounds for evictions and removing bans on pets, are among a range of measures promised by Sinn Féin if in government to significantly improve the rental sector, The Journal can reveal.
The party will next month publish its full housing plan – which it promises will be comprehensive and fully costed – but ahead of that The Journal has learned its plans to radically alter the rental sector.
One of the party’s core beliefs is that the current size of the rental market is too large and that a properly functioning housing system would have a much larger public housing section which exists separately to the private market.
Privately rented homes currently make up about 20% of Ireland’s housing stock, but it’s Sinn Féin’s position that this should drop to about 10% in a fully functioning housing system.
In tandem with this, the party would like to see publicly provided housing rise from 10% to about 30%.
The party is proposing to make a number of changes to the sector with the overall aims of making renting more secure for renters, making it more affordable, making it safer by improving standards in rental properties and creating a pathway to homeownership for those who would prefer to own their own home.
One of the most significant changes being proposed by the party falls under the banner of safety, with the party planning to introduce what its housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has dubbed an ‘NCT style’ inspection system for privately rented homes.
Local authorities – which already hold responsibility for conducting inspections on social housing – would be mandated to carry out inspections of 25% of the market every year, meaning that every rental property would be inspected on a four-year basis.
Complying landlords would be given a certificate of completion for each property. After four years of the system’s introduction: no certificate, no renting.
Under the system, landlords would be charged a €100 fee for the inspection, with Ó Broin arguing that this would make it self-funding.
The party is also proposing the introduction of a deposit protection scheme managed by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to hold tenants’ deposits securely and help reduce incidents of landlords illegally keeping deposits at the end of a tenancy.
Legislation for such a scheme was passed by Fine Gael in 2015, but despite campaigning from homeless and housing agencies, has not yet been enacted.
Ó Broin argued that while the introduction of such a scheme would benefit renters, it would also provide a new revenue stream for the RTB who would benefit from the interest earned on holding the deposits.
As it stands, it’s at the discretion of landlords in Ireland to decide whether a tenant should be allowed to have pets in the property or not.
Sinn Féin has pledged to introduce legislation that would give renters the right to have pets in both the private sector and those renting from Approved Housing Bodies.
Sinn Féin and others in opposition have long objected to the lifting of the temporary eviction ban arguing that it has fueled the rise in the number of homeless people in the state.
If in government, the party has pledged to reintroduce the temporary ban on no-fault evictions and review it after six months.
The party has also proposed a complete overhaul of grounds for eviction – removing the right to terminate a tenancy because a property is being sold and hugely tightening family member-based grounds for termination.
Currently, a landlord can issue a notice of termination if they wish to move a family member into the property, but Sinn Féin would change this so that it is more restricted.
It would only allow family use as a ground for termination where the family member is at risk of homelessness or in instances where a family member needs the accommodation to attend college or university.
While selling the property would no longer be usable as grounds for eviction, a landlord could still sell the property but only with the tenant in-situ.
As part of the party’s ambition to create more pathways to permanent homes for people, it has also proposed to expand the tenant in-situ scheme by providing funding for the public purchase of 6,5000 homes over five years.
The party has pledged a three-year emergency ban on rent increases for all existing tenants, all new tenancies and all new rental stock.
It would also maintain the existing rent tax credit but change the amount to a full month’s rent with a minimum credit of €1,000 per renter. It says this policy would be reviewed after three years.
The current Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Greens government is committed to its housing plan – Housing for All. Shortly after becoming Taoiseach earlier this year, Simon Harris set a new target to deliver 250,000 now homes between 2025 and 2030.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has continued to criticism Sinn Féin’s housing proposals, most recently arguing that its affordable housing policy document, published earlier this month, is “half-baked”.
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