New measure to safeguard renters until the new year
THE GOVERNMENT’S freeze on rents and eviction ban during the Covid-19 pandemic will come to an end on August 1.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien last night announced a ‘short extension under the existing emergency legislation to afford [him] the time to bring forward robust legislation that will provide real protection to tenants and property owners alike’.
The legislation will be enacted directly after the freeze ends to prevent evictions until January next year.
The Housing Minister had recently promised that the rent freeze would remain in place until October.
However, the Attorney General had raised legal concerns in relation to such a move with regard to personal property rights.
Meanwhile, the draft legislation aimed at protecting renters, will be brought to the next Cabinet meeting which is expected to be held at Dublin Castle today, if Taoiseach Micheál Martin returns from Brussels on time.
Reacting last night People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett and Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin have called for the rent freeze and the eviction ban to be extended long term, stating that now is not a safe time for tenants to be forced into homelessness.
The Simon Communities of Ireland also warned that ‘urgent preventative action is needed before the moratoria on evictions and rent increases can be lifted’.
Spokesman Wayne Stanley said last night: ‘We note the legislative difficulties that the Minister has outlined. However, the 11th hour and seemingly piecemeal nature of the decision has been cruel for those individuals and families at risk of homelessness.
‘The lifting of the moratoria has to be contingent on the Government putting in place an array of preventative supports to keep as many individuals and families out of homelessness as is possible.’