Richard O'Donoghue warns Tenancy Bill will push up rents
Richard O'Donoghue spoke in a debate on the Tenancy Bill and short-term lets, arguing the legislation is unclear and will raise rents while disadvantaging small landlords and tenants. He warned the bill lacks a clear definition of 'short-term let', risks pricing students and flood-displaced households out of accommodation, and called for targeted rewards for responsible landlords and tenants.
Main criticism of the Tenancy Bill
The speaker said the legislation "hasn't taken everything into account" and criticised its lack of clarity on core provisions. He argued the Bill as drafted will drive rents higher and could advantage large-scale profiteering landlords while forcing small landlords out of the market.
Short-term lets and definition concerns
He questioned what constitutes a short-term let - whether a week, a month or several months - and noted concerns raised by short-term letting operators including Airbnbs. The uncertainty, he said, complicates planning conditions for properties that have been let to holidaymakers and contribute to local towns and communities.
Flooding, insurance and temporary housing
The speaker raised the plight of homeowners displaced by flooding who need temporary lettings while houses are retrofitted, and said many can no longer obtain insurance. He linked those practical housing needs to the Tenancy Bill's rules, asking how long homes will be out of action and how displaced people will be accommodated under the new regime.
Impact on landlords and the rental market
He predicted a wave of rental properties coming to auction as small landlords sell in response to repeated regulatory change and new burdens. He highlighted existing difficulties securing student accommodation and warned the Bill would exacerbate pressures on tenants, with rents and upfront payments likely to rise.
Proposed alternatives and rewards for good actors
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, the speaker called for measures to reward good landlords and tenants and to target enforcement at the worst offenders. He urged the minister to provide greater security for responsible property owners and to address specific problems such as long RTB delays before imposing blanket tariffs.
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There's no saying, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. So this legislation, Minister, with all its intentions of what you wanted to do, again it hasn't taken everything into account. So part of this legislation says about short-term let. What constitutes a short-term let? Is it a week? Is it a month? Is it two months, three months? What constitutes a short-term let? For the likes of Airbnbs, who have been on about this to me for the last number of years, and to my colleague here, David McCollins, Independent Ireland, they have been on to us, asking us what is it. We met last year over the planning condition rules for Airbnbs, buildings that have been in place for the last number of years and have been let out short-term for holidaymakers which are contributing to the local towns and communities. Again, this goes partly to say short-term let, but where does it constitute what is a short-term let? We have people who want to build their own houses. At the moment, Minister, if you go to Exford, we have people who are going to be looking for lettings to go into while their houses are being retrofitted back again after flooding. So what happens there? What happens? A problem that was caused by government, by failing to dredge the rivers, has now worked out that they are flooding people's houses to protect different species, when they could have actually put a plan in place that would have dredged the rivers in different sequences, protected the wildlife and also protected the people's homes. Those same people's homes no longer can get insurance again because they have been flooded. And the Government have come up with a task force for this. On the back of this then, it brings us back to the Tenancy Bill. And they bring it in, is it, how long do we let it out? How long is a person's house going to be out of action? So if these people that have been flooded at the moment go to somebody to rent them a property, are they now caught in the same situation where they might want to rent for a year and the landlord says, listen to me, I can't, everything we have here has to be based around this Tenancy Bill. Number one, the rent is going to skyrocket. Number two, student accommodation is going to skyrocket. We see now, and I have a student myself in college himself, and the hardest thing we had to do this year was to get him accommodation. So four of us came together to have students in Galway, and we had to rent a property. But we had to pay for it three months previous to make sure they have their place when they are going to college because of the rental market. Minister, all I can tell you is, come March, every auctioneer in this country is going to be weighed down with rental properties going up for sale. There's going to be rental properties up for sale because people said enough is enough. Every year there's something change. We have some fantastic landlords, but we also have some bad ones. We have fantastic people that are looking after people in the community keeping the rental market low to make sure that they can afford it because they are looking after the property. And now we have this where you want to equalise it since the market value. So somebody down here can be charging one and a half times the price, and now they are saying, well, we're getting one and a half times the price here of what you're getting, so you've got to bring your market value up to meet it. That means a person in the rental property is going to be paying more. It's going to put more pressure on the person because they'll say, right, my property needs to make more. Then you're saying the people that have four properties or more are locked into the six years. And anybody that has three properties or less is not. That's one thing that you're bringing in. What you need to bring in here is security for people going forward 100%. And anyone that had problem tenants had a massive problem with RTB where people were left on properties up to two years. And it's not only the landlords, local authorities have the same issue. Where we have landlords that, what you call landlords, and a lot of people have secondary homes because it might have been left them or it might have been a parent who had passed away and left them properly and they decided they wanted to house somebody locally in the area to help them, are all being branded under the landlords. Thank you. And anyone that's on... Sorry, I have... Oh, you've had five minutes. Is it five minutes? Yeah. It's just run ahead from the previous speaker, but you've had five minutes. But they're independent. We've had that time. So it's coming to get it together. Keep going. But I just want to finish on this. From the point of view of good landlords and good tenants, we need to put in a reward system. This system that you're putting in place at the moment is only going to make rents higher, make the landlords that are actually profiteering on massive scale, it's going to put them at an advantage and the small landlords want to get out. Because they're saying it's all the tariffs that you're putting in place is one bill fits all. Reward good people, reward good tenants, reward good landlords, and then deal with the ones that are actually doing bad. Do them bad. Deputy Google. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Yvonne, that's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you again, Mr. Yvonne. Thank you, Mr. Yvonne, and I think about the Friendship of the Government.
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