Workers’ Party councillor and Euro candidate Éilis Ryan has said the government’s new rent regulations leave plenty loopholes for landlords to exploit.
Commenting following Minister Eoghan Murphy’s announcement of the new regulations this evening, Cllr. Ryan said:
“Landlords will breathe a sigh of relief that Minister Murphy continues to allow plenty loopholes for a landlord who wishes to get rid of a tenant. They can still use the excuse of giving a property to a relative, of selling up, or of refurbishing, and be confident that, by the time they could be found out, the tenant will have had to move on to new accommodation.
“These regulations continue the bizarre situation where the onus is entirely on a tenant – 6 or 12 months after they have been evicted from a property – to prove that their landlord lied when they evicted them. By that stage, the person is either homeless or has rehoused themselves elsewhere. It simply won’t happen.”
Cllr. Ryan criticised the Minister’s reliance on the RTB to police termination notices:
“The RTB is already chronically underfunded. The only token effort to take the burden of proof away from tenants, is to ensure landlords copy a notice of termination to the RTB. The RTB is already well past capacity point – it cannot cope effectively with yet another obligation, and no greater funds.”
Cllr Ryan concluded:
“Minister Murphy and his Fine Gael party are the party of landlords. I could set my clock by the number of times he has told us that new regulations are a new era for tenants. Let him come back and stand over his record in a year – I would wager little will have changed.”
ENDS
For information contact Cllr. Éilis Ryan (086) 3108553