Landlords cannot be beneficiary of eviction ban
Labour housing spokesperson Rebecca Moynihan said it’s high time that Government implement an emergency eviction ban.
While the Minister is questioning the Attorney General on the possibility of such a measure which was introduced and worked well during Covid, Senator Moynihan said rather than delay tactics, the eviction ban needs to be introduced now.
Senator Moynihan said:
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been on the side of landlords for too long. They’re happy to leave renters totally exploited by landlords with out of control rents and little to no security of tenure.
“The primary cause of homelessness is eviction. The Minister must commit to a full eviction ban and use the winter months to buy housing where there is a tenant in situ. This crisis is not caused by onerous tax rates but the outsourcing of our social housing provision to the insecure private rented sector.
“I’m deeply concerned at reports that an eviction ban would be coupled with a tax break for landlords. This simply will not help. Landlords should not be paying less tax than their renters do from their income, unless tied to affordability which should be max the mortgage.
“Every month a renter pays, the equity in the home for the landlord increases.
“There is a fundamental power imbalance between renters and landlords. Landlords who hoped make a quick buck out of the housing crisis can evict loyal, hardworking tenants due to no fault of their own. It’s not right and it’s not fair.
“Government needs to significantly scale up the tenant in situ scheme so where a landlord is selling up, the property can be bought at market value to keep the renter in the home. This is one tool at the government’s disposal to stem the homelessness crisis.
“We totally lag behind other countries on renters rights. If Government wanted to actually fundamentally address the flaws in the rental market, they could fast track Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which includes measures like a ban on no-fault evictions and a transparency register to stop some landlords’ egregious profiteering off the rental crisis.
“Month by month, homeless figures are soaring. The majority of people who enter homelessness come from the private rental market, so an eviction ban coupled with a rent freeze are desperately needed to protect people this winter.”