Time to revise renting

FOR perfectly legitimate historical reasons, the word ‘landlord’ carries negative connotations in this country.

But in a scenario where there is a serious housing crisis, the bottom line is that we need people who are willing to provide rental accommodation. Yet figures show that a growing number of landlords are opting to sell up. Among the reasons they cite for leaving the market is the high level of tax levied on their income.

Our political leaders have never been shy about using tax breaks to encourage tech companies and other multi-nationals to set up in Ireland. As we all know, those incentives have proved hugely successful in bringing jobs and investment here.

The same principle applies in this instance. We simply need to make it attractive for people to rent out properties rather than penalising them for doing so. Of course, it is only right that there should also be extra protections and security introduced for tenants.

The existing state of play is clearly untenable. It is bad enough that there is no sign of long-overdue reform of the tenancy laws but the fact that landlords are taxed to the hilt is only exacerbating the situation.

It doesn’t require an expert to see that there is no sign of improvement in the housing crisis. Continued inactivity on the Government’s part will only make this situation worse.