Is é bun agus barr an scéil leis an mBille seo ná go gcuirfidh sé drochbhail ar chíosaithe trí chostas tithíochta a ardú, costas atá cheana féin i bhfad ró-ard. The bottom line with this Bill is that rents can be reset to market rate between tenancies, which means we will see already sky-high rents go up and up from March. We are already seeing the effects. Eviction notices have already gone up in anticipation of the new rules. In my constituency, I have been working with an 81-year-old man in Athy who has been renting in the same building for over 20 years at a rate that is now well below market rent. Now, all of a sudden, the landlord is moving in a family member. Under the new legislation, rents can be hiked up to market price every six years or if a tenant leaves voluntarily. Rents are going to be out of control within a matter of months. This basically amounts to deregulating the rental sector and offers perverse incentives for landlords to create shorter tenancies. It is estimated that under the new regime, yearly rent will cost over €3,500 more in Kildare by the end of the decade. While the Government talks about creating sustainable and secure conditions for renters with this Bill, it will do exactly the opposite. One would have to wonder who the Government had in mind coming up with these new rules. It was not nurses, teachers, people in their 20s and 30s who have never moved out of the family home, families who would like to support their children moving away for college, the elderly receiving the State pension or low-income families receiving HAP, who will no longer be able to afford their top-up payments. These changes come at the behest of big institutional investors and vulture funds to increase their profits. What renters need now is hope, not hikes. Sinn Féin stands with renters and for affordability.

Sentiment score: 0.11