Landlords have warned there could be an exodus from the rental sector if an evictions ban is introduced by the Government.
The Irish Property Owners Association claimed it “would be disastrous for the sector and only serve to dissuade anyone from continuing to maintain properties for rent”. The association was speaking after the latest comments from Justice Minister Helen McEntee who revealed she was referring the ban proposal to the Attorney General for advice.
She added the Government did not want to see anyone thrown out of their house this winter because of the cost of living crisis. The IPOA believes the ban would be “highly discriminatory” against its members. The group’s chairwoman Mary Conway said: “Eviction bans have either been introduced, or mooted, with increasing frequency over the past number of years.
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“Now they are being suggested again as a means of dealing with a failure of national housing policy. As the representative body for small landlords, we have grave reservations about such moves happening without consultation.
“This proposal from Government fails to acknowledge that landlords are not immune to the cost-of-living crisis. Making landlords scapegoats for failures in housing policy will only serve to worsen the current exodus of landlords from the market, an eventuality exacerbated further by a buoyant property market. We are calling on Government to avoid this highly discriminatory and divisive proposal and instead work with the sector to help to increase supply in the market.”
Ms McEntee told RTE’s The Week in Politics on Sunday: “Similar to energy security and supply, where the Government has been absolutely clear that people won’t be left without heating or able to cook food or to support their families. We are going to do everything that we can to ensure that people are kept in their homes in so far as possible.”
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