Sir, – People will probably agree that it is the State which carries the ultimate responsibility for housing its citizens, but therein lies the problem in what is called the “housing crisis”. Social housing in one form or another is the basic requirement for people with a long-term housing need, but sufficient housing has never been built, or even planned, to cope with the huge volume of new people on housing lists, particularly in the large urban centres. There is an expectation that the private rental market will be available to take up the slack, but there are an insufficient number of properties in the private rental market, largely due to the actions of Government and lenders.
The average number of properties owned by private landlords is one, with many in negative equity and with heavy mortgages attached. Landlords need to let their property at market rent, not approximately 15per cent below, which is the average rent supplement level, in order to be able to try and pay the costs of being a landlord, never mind making a profit from the business of letting property.
The Government penalises people in receipt of rent supplement by capping it, but then blames landlords for not being willing to subsidise the accommodation.
The State, in its wisdom (or its desire to gather in easy taxes), has blatantly decided to penalise landlords by a long series of indirect taxation measures, which in turn can result in rental income being taxed on a loss-making situation. Following on from that, landlords cannot pay their mortgages in full, aggravating the mortgage arrears situation.
Lenders are aggressively forcing sales, as has been shown in the hard-line stances taken by the banks at the Oireachtas finance committee. The Government and the Central Bank have aided and abetted this situation by continually giving in to the bullying tactics of our lenders, and landlords are losing their property as a result, which also means that tenants are also being de-housed with nowhere else to go. The Government maintains it cannot interfere with the commercial operations of the lenders, yet it continues to interfere brazenly in the commercial operations of landlords.
Instead of increasing the supply of property, actions by the Government are decreasing it. Traditional bedsit accommodation with shared bathrooms is now illegal, but there is no alternative for tenants caught up in this scenario.
Landlords continuing to operate bedsits are breaking the law, but to be put into a situation which makes their tenants homeless is a national scandal. The Government is ignoring this situation.
Rents decreased over 40 per cent in recent years, and are still below peak levels. Local property tax is for services provided to the tenant, yet it is levied on the landlord, increasing costs.
Is it possible for someone with a grain of intelligence to look at the “housing crisis” fairly? Will certain politicians and others stop vilifying people who have the courage to invest in property (despite the huge downsides of so doing), who treat their tenants as customers, and who want to have their business recognised as such? Given the right conditions, the Government should look at the private rental market as a partner of the State in housing citizens. Partners deserve fair and equitable treatment. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN FAUGHNAN,
Chairman,
Irish Property
Owners’ Association,
Ashtown Business Centre,
Navan Road,
Dublin 15.