Hypocritical Sinn Féin would exacerbate housing crisis with flip-flop rent control proposals – Cummins

Sinn Fein must clarify their position on rent controls as their representatives in the North fail to support their implementation, while representatives in the South call for a three-year rent freeze, according to Fine Gael Senator John Cummins.

Senator John Cummins, party spokesperson on Housing, Local Government & Heritage, said: “On Tuesday 22^nd February, Sinn Féin councillors in Belfast refused to support a motion calling for rent controls in Northern Ireland, while in the South, party treasurer, Pearse Doherty simultaneously called for a three year rent freeze here during a media appearance.

“This is yet another example of Sinn Féin calling on Government in the Republic of Ireland to introduce something which their party has failed to implement or support in the North.

“Under a Sinn Féin Housing Minister in Northern Ireland, a paltry 937 social homes were delivered in the 12 months to the end of September 2022, compared to a year of record delivery for social housing in 2022 in the South. Now we see Sinn Féin voting against rent controls in the North while simultaneously calling for them this side of the border.

“Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó’Broin and party colleagues consistently call for a three year rent freeze to be implemented, which would undoubtedly lead to a further fall off in supply as has occurred in other countries.

“We don’t have to look too far away to Berlin to see the impact of such a move. There, the left wing government introduced a 5 year rent freeze to much fanfare in 2020, proclaiming that it would reduce soaring rental costs.

“However 12 months later, supply in the city reduced by on average 50%, meaning renters could not find a property. In addition the Supreme Court ruled the move unconstitutional, meaning tenants had huge bills in arrears to pay to landlords.

“Simplistic solutions to complex problems do not work. It is easy to propose things in opposition but Government must weigh up the potential benefits and pitfalls. I believe any objective analyst would agree, the last thing we need in an already constrained market is to reduce the number of properties available to rent even further.

“The previous Government introduced Rent Pressure Zones which cover approximately 75% of tenancies nationally. A decision to extend these until the end of 2024 was made in 2021, which essentially caps rent increases at 2% annually and is continually kept under review.

“A renter’s tax credit of €1,000 has been implemented and the rollout of cost rental accommodation continues to increase which provides rental accommodation at a discount of at least 25% on market rent.

“The ability to accelerate delivery of this nature via the LDA and AHB’s on sites that have active planning permissions is something which I believe can be achieved within the constraints of state aid rules, however Sinn Fein as a party oppose the LDA and its role in delivering homes across the country,” Senator Cummins concluded.