Time to deal with the stark reality that faces so many tenants
Labour Cllr Rebecca Moynihan has today called on Fine Gael to establish a rent registry to ensure new tenants are not victims of price gouging.
Cllr. Moynihan said:
“Yet again today, we another report highlighting spiraling rates of rent. Rents in urban areas are out of control with the average rent in Dublin €1,600 per month. How much longer will this government ignore the plight of those in the private rented sector who are finding it impossible to get or keep a home that they can afford?
“New tenants are all too often subject to price increases as they have no way to know what the previous tenants were paying for the same property. Labour has long supported the Rental Tenancies Board call for a rent registry which would guarantee transparency for new tenants.
“Labour has repeatedly called for much tighter control and for the whole country to be a rent pressure zone. Urban areas all over the county are seeing huge increases in annual rent rates. The current system is broken but there is also an urgent need to publish a Rent Register so that new tenants know what the previous rent was and that they are not being fleeced and charged above the legal amount.
“There are other loopholes that need to be closed including landlords giving notice that they are doing up the property when there is no good reason to terminate the tenancy. There is also a need to link rents to the rent of inflation and make renting an affordable, and secure practice in Ireland.
“These are common-sense proposals that would make a significant difference to people. The cost of renting is becoming totally unaffordable for many.
“The Minister and his colleagues have been dragging their feet on tenant’s rights for two and a half years; it is time to deal with the stark reality that faces so many tenants.”
