ENVIRONMENT minister Alan Kelly is prepared to reduce rent certainty to just two years, in an effort to convince Michael Noonan, the finance minister, to introduce the measure.
Kelly had initially suggested linking rent increases to the consumer price index for four years. Negotiations between the ministers’ respective departments broke down last weekend after Department of Finance officials refused to include rent certainty in a package to deal with the housing shortage.
Talks will resume this week, with sources close to Kelly saying he “will not leave the table” unless measures to deal with family homelessness are included in an agreement. “He believes rent certainty can help with this, even for a short period,” said one source. “Maybe two or three years.”
A number of other measures are also being explored. Officials in the Department of the Environment are reviewing the legal obligations placed on landlords, to see if the regulations around rent increases can be strengthened.
“At the moment, you get a letter informing you of an increase and you’ve then got 28 days,” said one political source. “There are ways of changing that, making it more difficult to increase rent.”
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Sources in Fine Gael said they would be in favour of “opt-in” rent certainty, whereby landlords would have the choice of not increasing rent in return for tax incentives. It is understood this proposal has not been formally tabled, but may be considered when negotiations resume.
Joan Burton, the Labour leader, has proposed a rent regulator with specific powers to control rent prices. Sources at the Department of the Environment said that while Kelly is not opposed to the idea of opt-in rent certainty or a rent regulator, he was not convinced either of these measures would solve the homelessness problem.
“According to the figures we have, 50% of the families presenting as homeless are falling out of the private rented sector,” said one government figure. “We’re in something pretty close to an emergency. This isn’t about money, it’s about supply.
“While we’re waiting for the new houses to come on stream, we need to do something to protect people in their homes. It was made quite clear by [Kelly and junior minister Paudie Coffey] during the negotiations that they believe more families will become homeless unless something is done immediately. We’re facing the prospect of homeless families being kicked out of hotels over the Christmas period.”
One Fine Gael figure said Kelly had turned down a very substantial package of housing measures in advance of the budget. “You can’t just walk out of the room when you don’t get everything you want,” said the Fine Gael source. “Alan needs to work out the meaning of the word compromise. We could maybe look at an opt-in rent certainty, but I don’t see us going further than that.”
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Sources in the Kelly camp said the package put on the table by the Department of Finance was “akin to a pat on the head” and would not have resolved the homelessness problem.
While relations between the two ministers have been strained, Noonan and Kelly are expected to appear together at a jobs announcement tomorrow. Government sources said they believe a compromise could be reached on the housing package within two weeks