Sir, – Peter Flanagan reveals both the bad news and the good news for Ireland’s housing market from the latest ESRI report which should inform housing policy among political parties, but still there is no move by any party to slow down the mass exodus of small private landlords from the rental market (“Home ownership age gap among highest in Europe”, News, July 20th). Severe rental market undersupply continues – driven by excessive regulation, punitive taxation and continued negative rhetoric against landlords.
Many thousands of private property owners continue to exit the rental market this year. Accounting bodies, estate agents, surveyors, landlord groups and other commentators have raised these rental market issues and encouraged a new policy approach to the market with the objective of stemming the exodus. This should be a vital policy objective of all political parties.
But still the pressure continues from the left-wing political parties and leftist academics and lobbyists – demanding more regulations designed to to pile additional pressure on landlords. Sinn Féin has doubled-down on its rhetoric and policies, confirmed with Eoin Ó Broin saying the party would ban rent increases and ban evictions if in government. In advance of the next general election with Sinn Féin potentially in a position to lead a leftist coalition, we can anticipate a very troubled future for the Irish private rental sector.
All the while an unassailable conclusion from all debate on this issue in Ireland is that over-regulation will always fail to achieve the primary goal of good rental market policy – a plentiful supply of affordable properties to rent. Rent controls may serve to cap rent increases for sitting tenancies, as is the case in Ireland, but they will always drive investment out of a market, a most damaging outcome in a country with high inward migration and high population growth.
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Reasonable commentators must observe that symbolic populist over-regulation has caused rental property supply to be dramatically reduced. Sinn Féin will significantly compound the problem with its planned policies. – Yours, etc,
MARK MOHAN,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.