There are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
In regard to homelessness, our politicians are firmly in the latter two categories.
For the past couple of years, homelessness has been like a runaway train, out of control, gathering speed month by month.
Seven or eight families a month became homeless in 2012; 20 families a month became homeless in 2013; 40 families a month became homeless in 2014; 60 families a month became homeless between January and June 2015; and 73 families a month became homeless between July and September 2015.
At least 550 more individuals are trying to access emergency accommodation each night since the beginning of 2015.
The Government watched the crisis develop and did nothing. The vast majority of those becoming homeless in recent years have been evicted from their private rented accommodation because they can no longer afford to pay the spiralling rents. The voluntary agencies working with homelessness pleaded again and again for rent control measures and for an increase in the rent allowance payable to individuals and families on social welfare to stem the flow into homelessness.
Poor cousin
Finally, two years late, the Government announced that it was going to introduce measures to tackle this problem. The voluntary agencies were hoping that, at last, the long-awaited uncle was coming to sort out many of the problems. Instead the poor cousin arrived, a bit breathless, very late, but still to be welcomed.
The most significant measure the poor cousin brought was that for the next four years, rents can be increased only every two years, and the increase cannot be in excess of the prevailing market rate.
This gives tenants some limited rent certainty. Many on low incomes know that, for at least two more years, they need not fear a substantial rent hike. However, we had been hoping rent increases would be linked to the consumer price index, which would have given rent certainty for the indefinite future.
This measure will have no effect on those who depend on the Government’s rent allowance, many of whom will continue to slide into homelessness. Even though rents in Dublin are almost back to their peak levels of 2007, the rent allowance is 26 per cent less than in 2007. The argument against increasing the rent allowance was that it would encourage landlords to put the rent up even further. Now that some degree of rent certainty has been introduced into the market, this argument is no longer valid.
Another measure brought by the poor cousin was that landlords must give 90 days’ notice of a rent increase instead of the current 28 days’. This would give tenants time to seek alternative accommodation if the rent increase was beyond their means, but only if the supply of private rented accommodation was adequate to meet demand. With the shortage of rented accommodation, this measure only kicks the can down the road for another couple of months.
Greedy landlords
Many landlords have a social conscience. Many landlords are also struggling financially. But there are a lot of greedy landlords who care nothing for their tenants and want as much money as possible with least effort. Such landlords often evict their tenants on the pretence they are selling the house or they need it for a close relative; then they relet it at a higher rent than the previous tenants were able to pay. This will now become more difficult as they will have to make a statutory declaration to that effect.
In future, landlords will have to lodge deposits with the Private Residential Tenancy Board (PTRB), who will hold it for the duration of the tenancy. If the landlord wishes to claim the deposit to cover damage to the property, the PTRB can resolve the dispute. This will solve one of the biggest problems for tenants, who are often unable to get their deposit back from greedy landlords at the end of their tenancy.
Benefits
Some landlords will object to even these minimal changes, and some may pull out of the market altogether. But they bring benefits too for responsible landlords.
Landlords will have speedier access to the courts to evict tenants for rent arrears or antisocial behaviour. And tax incentives will be available to landlords who agree to offer accommodation to homeless people and families.
Landlords say rent certainty measures are a way of penalising them for not providing affordable social housing. They say, quite rightly, that responsibility for the provision of social housing lies with the Government, not landlords. This is a message the Government has not yet grasped.