There are very serious and valid concerns regarding the amendment to the residential tenancies legislation and the impact, particularly on private property rights and small-scale property owners or landlords. I have met many of these small-scale property owners in my offices in Birr and Tullamore and they are telling me quite clearly that are leaving the rental market. I have also met tenants who have received a notice-to-quit letter. I know this is as a result of the legislation coming before us, which is flawed and unfairly punishes small property owners. What are we, as TDs, to do? How are we to advise tenants who cannot get access to social housing because their income is too high? There are no affordable housing schemes and now there are fewer properties to rent. I know for a fact that many properties are up for sale in towns like Birr, Banagher, Tullamore and Edenderry. That would not have happened were it not for this flawed legislation, which goes about unfairly punishing small-scale property owners. It is totally unfair. I have seen good people who have been in the rental market for a long time. They have been very fair with their tenants and everything has worked very well. Now we have an absolute disaster unfolding. Unless the Minister can get to grips with this, change course quickly and amend this legislation, we are going to have an absolute catastrophe in terms of a greater shortage of rental properties, which I can see first hand. I am still getting a huge volume of emails from property owners, many of whom are in the process of selling their homes. They are gone out of the market now thanks to this flawed legislation. I hope the Government will see sense. The way it is going about this is wrong. There should have been fairness and balance. I am all for having rental properties and fairness for tenants, but we have to be fair with the small-scale property owner as well. The proposed framework represents a disproportionate appropriation of rights from private citizens who have always paid their taxes and who have invested their savings, in some cases their life savings, in the rental market. The move towards rolling six-year tenancies and the virtual elimination of no-fault evictions for many providers effectively strips owners of their right to manage their own assets, which in many cases they worked hard to purchase. I am talking about the small-scale property owner with three or fewer properties. It is unfair and it needs to be changed. We have a situation whereby we have asset seizure by regulation. By preventing owners from reclaiming their property for sale or personal use until a six-year mark is reached, the Government is essentially freezing private capital. This legislation forces small-scale property owners to carry the social burden of housing provision at the expense of their own financial security and liquid assets to their investments and disincentivises the sector. The measures we have here in this flawed legislation do not just target vulture funds, they punish private citizens or individuals who have worked hard to provide quality housing, who have obeyed the laws, worked within the parameters of the RTB, and have been fair and good to their tenants. The message being sent here is that private property rights are secondary to political expediency. It is because there is a crisis that the Minister is being too rash with decisions here. The legislation is not properly thought out. I am asking for an urgent review of the Bill before we have an absolute disaster. Property owners deserve a fair return and the fundamental right to control their own assets without undue State interference. The control is overbearing and it is pushing people out. It is forcing small-scale property owners out of the market. Many small-scale property owners have also told me that the security of tenure for some cannot come at the cost of other citizens, in terms of security of ownership. There has to be a balance. No balance is struck here. From what I can see, the Minister has made rash and ill-thought out decisions. I ask him to again meet with small property owners and the organisation that represents them because the Bill is just not going to be a success. We are going to have chaos. Will the Minister of State tell me what I should tell tenants who are coming in to me very upset because they cannot qualify for social housing? There are no affordable housing schemes in County Offaly. What do I tell the people who got on well with the property owner or landlord and everything went well and who lived happily in their house for many years,? Now we have this mess. We need solutions. We need affordable housing but we do not need to tackle this with the force being applied by the Minister. It is unfair. We should always ensure the rights of all are respected and upheld. This legislation will most certainly deepen the housing crisis. I am already seeing it with the volume of notice-to-quit letters, and the increase in properties for sale in many towns throughout Offaly. People have had enough. They are not going to be dictated to by the Government when they have worked hard, paid taxes all their lives and worked in jobs like teaching or nursing or as a garda. They are not going to be dictated to. It is unfair. The Bill needs to be reversed immediately. Thanks to this legislation, we are going to see an increase in homelessness due to the greater absence of rental properties in the market. This legislation has to be urgently amended because it is not a solution. It is a disaster for tenants who do not qualify for social housing and it is an absolute disaster for the small-scale property owners, many of whom are disillusioned and have decided to leave the rental market and sell their properties. It is a disaster.

Sentiment score: -0.02