With an election coming up what should be done for the property sector?

handlemaster

Before the election most of us will have the ear of our local candidate . With that in mind what will you be asking for with regards the property market /sector... regarding for example rents, tax , cgt etc etc

athtrasna

Mod note

Posters are reminded that this is the accommodation and property forum so please focus on these issues. This is not a political ranting thread.

Eugene Norman

rent control, massive house building programs.

johnnyskeleton

They should double the social housing budget:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/kelly-outlines-1-5-billion-plan-for-social-housing-1.2161303

They could give powers to DCC to CPO vacant dwellings at real market rates (i.e. no people looking for 200k for a burnt out shell) and give people refurb grants - people could take a risk on renovating eyesore buildings into homes, land hoarding is discouraged and at a minimal risk/cost to the exchequer. Anyone complaining could be informed of the severe accommodation shortage in dublin.

NAMA could be more visible about its housebuilding projects and stop hoarding land.

Gumbo

Reintroduce 100% interest relief.
Provide stricter protection for landlords and tenants alike.
Engage with the landlord for any social payments and allow the payments direct to the LL to avoid evictions and the like.

davo10

Legislation to allow LLs to remove errant tenants quickly.

newacc2015

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

They should double the social housing budget:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/kelly-outlines-1-5-billion-plan-for-social-housing-1.2161303

They could give powers to DCC to CPO vacant dwellings at real market rates (i.e. no people looking for 200k for a burnt out shell) and give people refurb grants - people could take a risk on renovating eyesore buildings into homes, land hoarding is discouraged and at a minimal risk/cost to the exchequer. Anyone complaining could be informed of the severe accommodation shortage in dublin.

NAMA could be more visible about its housebuilding projects and stop hoarding land.

DCC is sitting on sites and is only making an effort to redevelop them last year.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/dublin-council-plans-housing-for-30-hectares-of-vacant-land-1.2113216

I think height restrictions should be abolished in parts of the city within reason. DCC redeveloped some of their flats and were told they could only build 5 storeys, when they wanted to build 8 storeys. We arent going to increase housing supply if DCC can only replace a block of apartments with the exactly the same block of apartments. In NYC developer can build above height restrictions if they give a greater percentage of their housing to lower market rent housing.

I DCC should be allowed to CPO some of their former housing in the city for redevelopment into high rise apartments eg their former housing on Dorset Street, their housing around Pearse Street etc. They should knock those horrific 3 storey red brick houses and replace them with higher density housing. There is old low density DCC housing in the middle of Dublin 2 surrounded by high rise apartments and office blocks. It looks so out of place and under utilizing the sites.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Massive taxes on unused sites within 40 miles of Dublin. 100 % interest rate relief for landlords. Aggressive investment in social housing. O and approve some apartment blocks higher than 5 stories in the centre of the city.

slowjoe17

1. Rapid eviction for anti-social behaviour. Without this, landlords will be reluctant to let to social tenants.

2. 100% interest relief for buy-to-let for the first 25% of unit of a new-build development.

3. Unused building or site tax, incrementing at inflation + 5% pa. Tax to reset on sale.

4. Same above to apply to local authority sites, tranferring cash back to central government.

handlemaster

Quicker eviction of non pay investors tenants would encourage more investors into the market which would be good. Also give LL confidence to rent to social welfare tenants provided payments from the government agent is guaranteed

Pkiernan

2 week evictions.

Register of dead beat tenants.

Landlords to be able to ding credit history of dead beat tenants.

Mandatory first, last, and 1 months rents security deposit (no issues with this being held by 3rd party organisations )

The_Conductor

I have a different way of looking at this- instead of looking at mortgage interest- as an allowable cost- how about looking at rental income wholly separately to other income sources- and taxing it at a flatrate on the gross rental income.

The whole notion of allowing mortgage interest in the residential sector- as an allowable cost- means there is a perverse incentive applied to landlords- to never repay any of the principal on their loans- why would they- if it meant loosing a significant allowable cost against which to whittle down their rental income before determination of taxable income......... (this is at least one of the major reasons so many landlords got into difficulty after the bust- when lenders started calling in loans- they were incapable of servicing them).

So- thinking outside of the box- do away with all allowances etc for the rental sector- and set tax on landlords- all of them, large and small- at 20% (or a level commensurate with giving landlords sufficient income to maintain their properties and draw an economic rent (in the scientific understanding of the term) from the property- while incentivising them to pay down any loans on the property...........

After that- reintroduce a rental tax credit- at a reasonable level- possibly against income on the lower band, for all tenants.

Fast track the proposed independent body for holding residential deposits- but up the standard to a minimum of 2 months.

Encourage the rental of unfurnished units- using the Swiss model as a template- and for unfurnished units- introduce new longer 10 year tenancies.

For home owners (apartment dwellers or otherwise)- any of whom are on long term leases- as many of the services traditionally performed by local authorities who took estates 'in charge' are abdicated to Management Companies- it seems it is only fair that a fair amount of the Management Charge be allowed against taxable income- as its all too easy to argue that owner-occupiers of leased dwellings are subject to double taxation.

Property tax- roll the TV license in with it, set it an appropriate level- and ensure that it is visible that taxes collected in areas are spent in those areas. Give local authorities far more leeway to modify property tax levels up or down- to reflect their relative population densities and the economic cost of supply services and amenities to their populations. This does not necessarily mean Dubliners get a more favourable deal- statistics show that the provision of amenities on a per capita basis is lowest in some of the Dublin areas (alongside some major issues- such as lack of schools etc).

PRTB- get them some more staff- its criminal that they're expected to operate with their current staff ceiling- even after outsourcing some functions to SWS etc.

PRSA- give them some teeth- Property Managers/Agents and Estate Agents are getting away with blue murder. The current hoops they make people jump through to make a report discourage all but the most annoyed of people. EAs in particular have been allowed far too much leeway, for far too long. Make it easier to report these rogues, and change it that they're presumed guilty until proven innocent. The presumption of innocence- makes the standard too high for many wronged people to ever get justice.

An Garda Síochána- sign new legislation into law- there are too many areas of residential tenancy law- which are deemed to be civil rather than criminal in nature.

Evictions- non-paying tenants or those who overstay their tenancies- there has to be a manner for a property owner to easily lawfully regain possession of their property.

Threshold and other organisations in receipt of state funding- need to have 'secret shoppers' regularly audit their services to ensure they are, and the advice they dispense, is fully in compliance with Irish law. This bull**** of whispering on phone calls advice to overstay tenancies- or withold rental payments- does no-one any favours. By all means fund them- but a condition of funding has to be that all of their advice is lawful in nature.

Planning and other considerations- we are a laughing stock of Europe- the EU Commission regularly brings delegations over here on tours of the suburbs of Dublin to show what our planning laws have foisted on the Irish people. We need to build upwards- not outwards. We also need to supply proper facilities and amenities- commensurate to the population densities of areas. Parts of West Dublin have fewer amenities than do parts of Astana.

Repeal some recent legislation- such as that allowing smaller dwellings- and roll back requirements- so it does not become prohibitively expensive to construct reasonably sized dwellings, at reasonable prices- where people want to live.........

Revisit the construction sector- and incentivise it in such a manner that they get moving again- in a sustainable manner. 7 apprentice plumbers were employed nationally in 2015- 7, in the entire country........ How the hell is that sustainable- totally aside from our lack of construction- its easier to get complex bariatric surgery in Ireland- than it is to get a plumber if your pipes freeze in the winter..........

I could go on and on.........

hometruths

Government should encourage accelerated repossessions of properties where mortgages are over 1 year in arrears, and provide a legal framework to do so.

newacc2015

Reform of the PRTB is a huge issue. They should be given 2 years to either make sizeable changes to how it is run or be abolished. IMO they are extremely poor value for money. They were supposed to make dealing with tenant/landlord disputes easier and quicker for everyone. But they are too slow to deal with anything.

If they cant change with 2 years, abolish them and introduce US style housing courts. Where you can evict anti-social tenants almost immediately within reason of course. Quicker evictions for non-payment of rent. It is ridiculous that a landlord can be out of pocket for 12 months, as evictions are just so slow

I dont think a third party deposit scheme run by the PRTB is a wise at all. It will only make it more inefficient. Maybe get the post office to do it (although they arent the most efficient either and can be pricey for managing these services, but at least they have a good network).

The Government should consider non-recourse mortgages. I seriously doubt we would have had 100% mortgages if we had non-recourse mortgages, where the banks had to fear making a loss they couldnt recover on lending

ted1

Force banks to bring the variable rate inline with the rest of the euro zone.

It really is taking the piss.

ted1

schmittel wrote: »

Government should encourage accelerated repossessions of properties where mortgages are over 1 year in arrears, and provide a legal framework to do so.

And accelerates evictions where the tenant is 28 days behind

lcwill

<mod snip - please do not quote lengthy posts, it makes it very difficult for mobile users. Poster is responding to The_Conductor>

Some good ideas here - especially a lower flat rate tax on long term leases - these should have a fixed rent for the period of the lease or annual/biannual increases equal to inflation built into them. Should also be unfurnished.

Management charges deductible for everyone - including owner occupiers, would also take away what is a bit of an unfar advantage for landlords - in principle any costs which the home owner also has to pay (LPT, management charges) should be treated equally for owner occupiers and for landlords - either deductible for both or for neither.

Mitzy

kceire wrote: »

Reintroduce 100% interest relief.
Provide stricter protection for landlords and tenants alike.
Engage with the landlord for any social payments and allow the payments direct to the LL to avoid evictions and the like.

100% agree. If the government want landlords to be practically the sole provider of social housing in the state they have to do something to encourage them to take on social welfare tenants.
Payments should be made directly to landlords and not to tenants. Too many people have been left high & dry with no income while it is almost impossible to evict tenants for non payment of rent or for anti social behaviour.
Not every landlord is unscrupulous but they are treated like they are the lowest of the low according to the government & the media.

It wasnt me123

How about we make the County Councils build a minimum % (depending on the area) of social housing every year.

And

Reintroduce apprenticeships and provide employment for the youth on these housing schemes - blocklayers, plasterers, painters, electricians, plumbers, etc.

Every county council should be building social housing - with more availability there should be less demand on private rentals and prices should come down.

The_Conductor

Mitzy wrote: »

100% agree. If the government want landlords to be practically the sole provider of social housing in the state they have to do something to encourage them to take on social welfare tenants.
Payments should be made directly to landlords and not to tenants. Too many people have been left high & dry with no income while it is almost impossible to evict tenants for non payment of rent or for anti social behaviour.
Not every landlord is unscrupulous but they are treated like they are the lowest of the low according to the government & the media.

This is one of the fundamental issues I have- I don't understand how/why the government should be reliant on the private sector to supply social housing. If they were to specify reasonable standards- and a multi-year plan- there is no reason on earth they couldn't resurrect our moribund construction industry in a sustainable manner- and solve some of the core causes of our social housing issues (including lack of availability).

karenalot

Mitzy wrote: »

Payments should be made directly to landlords and not to tenants. Too many people have been left high & dry with no income while it is almost impossible to evict tenants for non payment of rent or for anti social behaviour.

HAP will be replacing rent suplements and full rent payments are made directly to the landlord. The tenant pays their share to the local authority. Deposits must also be covered by the tenant.

While this is a step forward my concern is that if the tenant does not pay their share the local authority can stop the payments to the landlord. Then you are back to square one of trying to evict non paying tenants and most likely a local authority who have no interest in dealing with you.

PhoenixParker

I'd love to see a big expansion of the housing trust sector and have them operating to serve both the subsidised and non-subsidised public. I think with more government support and incentives they could be a lot more responsive to housing needs then councils and associated local authorities.

Mitzy

The_Conductor wrote: »

This is one of the fundamental issues I have- I don't understand how/why the government should be reliant on the private sector to supply social housing. If they were to specify reasonable standards- and a multi-year plan- there is no reason on earth they couldn't resurrect our moribund construction industry in a sustainable manner- and solve some of the core causes of our social housing issues (including lack of availability).

The government shouldn't be reliant on the private sector but only a handful of social houses have been built in the past 30 years. Previous schemes have been a disaster socially.
The entire rental sector needs to be looked at. The current housing crisis has been brewing for years and successive governments have buried their heads in the sand and let this continue. When landlords are being taxed to the hilt why should they not be trying to maximize their returns? They are not charities.

Also another key point was the effective banning of bed sits. This style of accommodation suited a lot of people yet it was banned outright with no foresight as to where the tenants living in bedsits were going to live. This led to a number of people being forced into house / flat sharing which may not have suited their lifestyles or made living in a single unit totally unaffordable. Having housing standards is one thing but someone needs to be thinking long term about the impact it will have. This was raised at the time but ignored by the Environment Minister.