Gino Kenny: Calls for Rent Freeze and Rent Control
Gino Kenny spoke on 10 December 2019 about rising rents and supported a bill intended to address them. He described the rent spiral as "out of control", called for a rent freeze and rent control, and said People Before Profit will support the bill.
Support for the bill
He confirmed People Before Profit will be supporting the bill and addressed the minister directly, urging decisive action to stop the rent spiral.
Rents and local examples
He said rents are far above past peaks - about 20% higher than 2008 peak rents and roughly 40% higher than 2011 trough levels - and cited daft.ie listings in Clendoggan where a three-bedroom is €2,400, a two-bedroom €1,500 and a one-bedroom €1,400.
Impact on households
He warned that two people on the average industrial wage would have to spend half their income on rent, far above the recommended one-third. He noted a report that 1 in 10 people are spending over 60% of their income on rent, that multi-generational households are increasing, and that 10,000 people are in homeless accommodation.
HAP and landlord behaviour
He raised concerns about landlords discriminating against people on HAP and said some landlords seek tenants on homeless HAP payments, which drives rents up - sometimes over €2,000 - while the State pays landlords under the scheme.
Causes and demands
He blamed nine years of government policy, an over-reliance on the private market and the rise of super landlords for distorting the housing market. He called for immediate measures - a rent freeze and rent control - and said the government must be held to account.
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Thank you, Chair, and People Before Profit will be supporting this bill. Minister, I think you will agree that the rent spiral is out of control, and when something is out of control, it needs to be stopped. And if you look at peak rents in 2008, that was 11 years ago, we are at 20% more than we were at peak rents in 2008, and we all know what happened in 2008. And even in 2011, when it was trough rents, we are 40% more than we are now. So rents are completely unsustainable at this moment in time. And I just had a look at, on daft.ie, about three houses in Clendoggan. And the statistics are quite incredible, really. A three-bedroom house in Clendoggan at the moment is 2,400 euros. A two-bedroom is 1,500, and a one-bedroom is 1,400. Quite extraordinary figures. And if you're going to do the maths, two people on the average industrial wage would have to forego half of their income just on rent alone, which is incredibly expensive and almost completely unsustainable. And the recommended rent, spend on rent and mortgage should be a third of your income. And if you're on minimum wage or just above that, Minister, you can absolutely forget about rent in Clendoggan or anywhere else. I just want to mention about HAP and landlords discriminating people on HAP. Not only on HAP, but actually landlords looking for homeless HAP. So they drive up rents so much that they do get over 2,000 euros because people are desperate. And the government are giving this money out to landlords. A report earlier this year showed that 1 in 10 people in Ireland are spending over 60% on their income on rent. And Minister, this is completely unsustainable. And all this is obviously having a very corrosive effect on society. Not only are three generations living in houses, but also 10,000 people are finding themselves in homeless accommodation because of the perfect storm of the policy of no public housing and rents going through the floor. And I agree, Minister, not all landlords are bad. There are some accidental landlords that, because of certain reasons, they had a house and so forth. And look, there are some very decent people out there. But the over-reliance on the private market and super landlords and other landlords has distorted everything and has created a situation where it's completely unsustainable. Minister, your policy, whether you like it or not, you have been in government for the last nine years, you have created this crisis. You have created a crisis where rents are completely unsustainable. And the only way you're going to tackle that is two ways, rent freeze and rent control and your government being shown the door. Thanks. I have no fear. I have no fear to stop. Thank you.
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