Fears new rent regulations leave landlords with chance to exploit

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."

Minister Murphy said:“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:

Cllr Ryan said:“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.”