Landlords are leaving the rental market in their droves, with 43,000 properties lost in five years
The mass exodus of landlords from the rental market further highlights the urgent need for regulation of short-term letting platforms, according to Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan.
Deputy O’Callaghan, who is the party’s spokesperson on Housing, said:
“Reports today that 43,000 homes have been lost to the rental market in the past five years should serve as another wake-up call for the Government.
“Landlords have been leaving the market in their droves. The situation is only going to get worse, with a draft survey by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) revealing that up to 18 percent of landlords want to sell their properties in the next two years.
“The shrinking supply of homes is driving up rents to record levels, as evidenced in last week’s Daft report. The average rent sought for a home nationally between July and September was a record 14.1 percent higher than it was during the same period last year.
“Average monthly rent across the country was €1,688, with an asking price of over €2,200 in Dublin.
“The Government could immediately increase the supply of rental homes by regulating short-term letting platforms such as Airbnb. On the night of the census, there were 35,000 empty homes across the country, many of them short-term lets. Entire houses and apartments operating as short-term lets without planning permission should be returned to the long-term rental market.
“In terms of the Government’s housing plan, all the key metrics – from low social and affordable housing delivery to record homelessness numbers – are going in the wrong direction. Today’s figures further highlight the need for practical solutions and action instead of endless spin.”
November 29, 2022