Rent rises - what can the Gov do about it?

Emblematic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119950382#Comment_119950382

Not necessarily. It depends on the amount of people that owner occupier will have living in their house, the size of their family and so on. And, even if they have fewer in the house, this is likely to be the greater level of security they enjoy compared to that offered by a low quality landlord.

I'm not against landlords and believe there needs to be a mix of owner-occupiers as well as high quality rental units in a healthy market. But if landlords are of low quality, the market is better off if they sell up, get out, and stop blocking people from getting decent accommodation.

Flinty997

Sometimes kids won't be told fire is hot. Go for it.

amacca

I'll probably be shown how wrong I am but tbh I'd be of the opinion the best thing the gov could do would be to stop meddling and making stupid populist policy decisions that make the rental situation worse..its all very well going after landlords with one sided regulation or introducing schemes that increase property prices because people that can't see further from the ends of their noses think it will help them to buy but I honestly think if they had stayed out of the market or tried to make it more affordable by building more housing it would be a better situation now....

From the time gov started getting rid of bedsits they've made an absolute balls of it.....instead of asking what can they do about rents I honestly think a better question might be when can we get them to feck off making decisions that keep rents going up.....

Murph85

Incompetent morons, the situation is going to get much worse. Enugratimg if it's an option, is the best bet...

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119950878#Comment_119950878

Plus 1

Sam Russell

It is obvious that the solution is more houses.

So why do they not build them?

The Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend has been vacant for fifteen years - owned by Nama, a Gov agency. Yet still growing weeds, with not a sign of a crane or JCB.

[Edit:]

I know Nama have sold it, but they could have built the houses, or got DCC to build on it.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119952521#Comment_119952521

Why? They don't want to spend the money either to build housing or operate it.

Hotblack Desiato

Yet are happy to spend a fortune on HAP.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119952636#Comment_119952636

That would be a political decision.

here is no shortage of money to fund house building, nor of available land to build on.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119956039#Comment_119956039

..or operate it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2022/08/30/local-authorities-owed-105m-in-unpaid-rent/

thegame983

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119955942#Comment_119955942

Of course they are. It's the direct transfer of taxpayers money to investment firms (and it helps keep rents high as an added bonus)

That's why the government have no issue in 'giving people money' (EG HAP/ €200 for bills) as it isn't 'giving people money', it's 'giving private interests money'

It's a grift to enrich their benefactors.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119956152#Comment_119956152

This makes no sense the majority of landlords are not investment firms or landlords with more than one property. Also they've been going down this road for decades before investment firms were a significant player.

It's simple outsourcing. But for sure it has massive impact.

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119956152#Comment_119956152

That's an absurd distortion of the program. Tenants cannot afford rents so Govt has to subvent to keep people housed. It's a lot cheaper for Govt to subsidise rents than to provide houses. Don't you know that landlords (small) are leaving the business in droves; getting to the stage now where big landlords/funds are reconsidering their investments.

Sam Russell

What happens to the houses when 'small' landlords leave the market?

Are the houses sold? Then there is one more house occupied by an owner or tenant. Net loss of available houses - zero.

Are the houses left empty? Then the local authority should step in and buy or place a vacant property tax on it.

Let on a short term AirBNB type letting? Then that needs to be dealt with as it distorts the housing market.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119958062#Comment_119958062

I guess the council should pursue a single program occupancy housing program if the number of people in a property makes no difference, as your implying.

Road full of cars with one person, vs a bus.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119958062#Comment_119958062

Many different things happen, some are sold, some are left empty, some are converted into short term lets and some have a change of use. Not all the properties are recycled back into rentals or recycled for long term living so I wouldn't say net loss is zero. An increasing population exasperates this even further.

The councils cannot enforce what's on their plate at the minute I don't think any of them would relish having to police vacant properties, its going to be very difficult to prove somebody is not living in an apartment or using it on a regular basis unless they setup surveillance and I don't think we are going to go down that route so what is left? Self declare the the property is vacant?

Why does AirBNB need to be dealt with? These properties are investment properties, the idea of an investment is generally to make the biggest return you can with the lowest amount of risk. The return on rentals is currently being artificially limited by rental caps and risk is through the roof when you have little recourse for rent not paid or damage to the property. No small landlord bought a property with the intention of providing social housing, they bought them to provide for their own families and to provide a source of income into the future. Why do you think you should have more say over what they do with their property? Why are these restrictions only necessary for landlords why not apply maximum selling prices on all services and commodities?

The provision of housing for those who cannot afford it is the responsibility of the state.

Flinty997

Local authorities have enough of their own vacant properties. They need to sort that out before spending any time and money trying to grab other people's property.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41000432.html

That's before you consider all the housing NAMA sold off.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119958062#Comment_119958062

The occupancy levels of rental properties are higher than the occupancy levels of owner-occupiers.

So when a landlord leaves the market and is replaced by an owner-occupier, the supply of housing is lessened, and prices and rents go up, all other things being equal.

Murph85

I've an issue with restricting airbnb etc, when it's a government choice to have a housing crisis...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119959133#Comment_119959133

A family member surrendered a council property back to SDCC in June of last year. It was in perfectly good, well maintained living condition. We met a member of the council staff on site to hand back the house. They walked through it, and it was boarded up within one hour and is still boarded up today, more than six months later.

While some properties do need refurbishment, tenants should be allowed take on vacant properties "as is" or refurbished with tenants in place, rather then leave them sitting vacant for so long - which in itself causes issues with houses. I'd imagine the property we surrendered is now damp due to heating not being turned on for months.

Francis McM

To answer the question of the thread "What can the gov do about rent rises", the answer is to have more property built in the state. How? Bring down the price so people can afford it.

Taxation on home purchase is particularly insidious and cruel, especially on young people starting out.

The UK has a very similar housing market and climate to our own. Indeed, Irish legislation follows the UK very closely in many areas, including and especially housing except in one important area. The key difference is that VAT in the UK on new housing is at 0%. Converting commercial office space to residential and subdividing existing residential units is at 5%. All other buildings are at the standard rate of 20%.

VAT is applied at 13.5% to all buildings in Ireland: no exceptions. What is most perverse about advance lump-sum taxes on homes is that young people, the people who will bring the next generation of children into the world, are borrowing to pay tax.

They are burdened with this extra weight while trying to get their lives off the ground. We are at a considerable cost disadvantage compared to our nearest neighbour in the provision of homes due to VAT on new housing.