Threshold Blog
State must become less reliant on private landlords
Posted on May 07, 2019 by John-Mark McCafferty
It is Government policy to place the majority of those with a long-term housing need not in secure social housing tenancies but in the private rented sector (PRS) supported by the housing assistance payment (HAP) where they can be evicted for no reason. We need to face up to the fact that the policy is failing us. HAP is a poor substitute for social housing. It pays the rent to the landlord, while the tenant pays a rental contribution to the local authority in the same way as social housing …
Two cheers for the new Residential Tenancies Bill
Posted on May 01, 2019 by Gavin Elliott
At the end of last year the Government introduced the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018. As it has passed through the Oireachtas the bill has undergone a number of changes and a number of things have been added that were not in the original Bill. The majority of the changes are positive for tenants, and will increase security for people who are renting, but the Bill represents a missed opportunity to make more substantial changes which would have greatly improved the security …