Positive news coming for tenants
While there are plenty of flaws to be found in the rental system, there are positive signs that change is on the horizon.
Some encouragement should be taken from the fact that the rental system does seem capable of looking at itself in the mirror of a Monday morning and recognising what it is and what, therefore, needs doing to improve the prospects.
At a joint Oireachtas sub-Committee meeting at the end of November last, the head of the RTB (Residential Tenancies Board) Niall Byrne was called to account and had this to say in his opening statement:
“There is no doubt that the current situation is a long way short of what one would regard as acceptable. We take it very seriously and are working hard to remedy it. I would have been with the RTB for the last ten months. Coming into the role, I have discovered that our systems and processes are not working well and people are finding it difficult to deal with the RTB.”
“Unfortunately, that is a fact. This is despite the work of many highly committed predecessors of mine over the years.
"Deputies are well aware of this. We have had numerous Oireachtas queries from members of the committee and other members of the Oireachtas in relation to it. We have apologised insofar as that has made a difference.
"I do think it is important for public servants to acknowledge when there are failings. We have apologised to the stakeholders and we have committed to remedying the situation.”
“The issues we are facing are quite complex. Some of them are quite deep-seated. Some related to technology developments and some related to the arrangements we have in place to deal with customer service queries and responses when issues arise. It will take us some time to remedy the technical issues we have.
"The RTB introduced a new portal-based registration system in November of last year. The design of that system represented a significant investment of public money, time and effort. It will deliver for the RTB and the public but at the moment, unfortunately, it is not delivering to the requisite standard. We are working very hard to remedy that but it is a programme of work that will take us into next year fully complete. It may be quarter two of next year before we are fully out of the woods regarding the performance of the system. We have a plan in place. We are working through it on a technical front and I am confident we will see improvement during the course of 2023.”
Despite the trials and tribulations of the difficulties within the market, one must not lose sight of the fact that progress is being made and that there is some positive news for tenants.
“I suppose that the fate of tenants is inextricably linked to that of property management companies like our own,” says Mark Rose of Rose Properties, one of Cork city’s most prominent letting agencies. “I hope that there will be good news. I don’t know what the Government will do in the next Budget… Everybody keeps mentioning tax and tax breaks. It is relevant but the harder thing to get right is managing rent arrears. In some cases, it can take one to two years to sort out.”
“If you could imagine the worst possible scenario; the worst possible tenant living in your home and not paying rent. It can take one to two years for a property owner to get back possession of their home — to get to the end of that process.
"I’d love if they could do something about that; to get the regulator (the RTB) to be more functional. That would be good for tenant and landlord alike, because if they can get that working, then that would give more confidence to all parties involved, both tenant and landlord; which would then help supply.”
There is, Mark says, a certain degree of “weariness” at the moment amongst landlords. Once again, it’s always worth underlining that the vast majority of landlords are ordinary individuals and not the headline-grabbing “super-landlord” organisations.
“The perception amongst landlords at the moment is that you’re pretty much on your own, if there is a problem,” says Mark. “And, I think that that’s a correct perception. I would have been a bit more positive about the process before but now that I’ve been through the process a few times recently, I think it’s accurate to say that you’re pretty much on your own if you run into a difficult situation with a tenancy.”
There is, he says, some hope that if the Government do get it right in the next Budget in terms of lining up the kinds of incentives that will work, then supply may well increase.
“I also think that if the RTB were less dysfunctional, that would greatly help supply,” Mark adds, giving an example of talking to one tenant who had, he said, a “black-and-white case” of illegal eviction. “I asked them to lodge the case with the RTB and they did,” he says.
“The RTB’s response was, ‘we can’t find an address for that landlord’! So the illegally evicted tenant went and got an address and gave it to the RTB. They were to have a hearing but the landlord didn’t show up. The RTB then said, ‘We don’t have a lease agreement and without that, we’ve no jurisdiction’”.
While such cases may be rare, it is, he says, an example of how poorly the RTB actually functions and it is up to the Government, via the Housing Minister, to get some responsibility into the functioning of the RTB. The words from the new head of the organisation, however, confirm that there is recognition of fault; something that gives grounds for hope that change and taking on responsibility will follow, improving the lot of all those in the rental property market.
