The Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers says disproportionate regulation of private landlords is the primary cause of the trend to let homes to tourists rather than long term tenants. The issue was flagged in the latest Daft.ie report.
Pat Davitt, IPAV chief executive, said the private landlord, who "has been the mainstay of the rental market", is being forced by "increasingly onerous regulation" to find alternative solutions, and that the tourist market is an obvious one.
“The private landlord is taxed at a much higher rate than commercial landlords or vulture funds,” he said. “And she/he has little comeback from the State’s regulatory infrastructure when faced with irresponsible or vexatious tenants. In fact, the law is now so disproportionate that it facilitates irresponsible tenants who know that is they push hard enough they can live rent free for extended periods.”
Mr Davitt urged Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, who is currently considering the regulation of the short-term rental market, to be careful of introducing yet further regulation without first easing the tax position of the private landlord and rebalancing landlord/tenant regulation.
“Otherwise more private landlords will flee the market, which may then leave the market primarily to the build-to-rent sector. This would create such dominance that these landlords would then be in a position to effectively control the level of rents into the future,” he warned.
Mr Davitt further commented that the Government should give priority to issues that will assist supply, including looking at land availability, building costs, particularly for SME builders, and planning and service impediments.
