Sir, - Should tenants bow to the titanic effort made by the Commission on the Private Rented Residential Sector who "have spent 12 months studying the problems facing both tenants and landlords"?
I am sure those hard-hit tenants and victims of the 1992 sale of Mespil Estate by Irish Life are less than grateful for the supposedly hard work the 18 members of the Commission have contributed to solve one of the most scandalous issue affecting people who have no other alternative to living in rented accommodation.
The suggestion contained in the Commission's report that "rent control would ultimately be detrimental to the tenants", is far from convincing and is an easy way of avoiding the issue of the present unbridled profiteering and exploitation by landlords.
On the strength of the Commission's report, the Government may soon grant tenants living in rented accommodation for six months the right to renew their leases for up to four years. No consideration has been given to the fact that, when leases are renewed, landlords will still fix the level of rent they want from their tenants.
The remainder of the recommendations contained in the report are pure cosmetics and do little to alleviate the dreadful predicament in which some tenants find themselves when they have to spend up to 65 per cent of their earnings on rent alone. - Yours, etc.,
C. La Malfa, Dublin 4