Rent controls don't work

[DannyBoyD]

'Rookie error' as junior minister fails to oppose bill

A People Before Profit bill to ban evictions has progressed to detailed scrutiny stage, after the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning accidentally failed to oppose it in the Dáil.

www.rte.ie

Might want to rethink.

 

[AlbacoreA]

Do the govt care either way?

 

[Luternau]

'Rookie error' as junior minister fails to oppose bill

A People Before Profit bill to ban evictions has progressed to detailed scrutiny stage, after the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning accidentally failed to oppose it in the Dáil.

www.rte.ie

Might want to rethink.

The guy was asleep at the helm or as the next poster said, the Govt don't care.
Assuming it passes all stages, how soon before enactment? Such a measure should come in tandem with something for the owners impacted. Not all rents are at market rates and increasing interest rates may make some of these non-profit or marginal profit. Something in terms of tax rates is useless if there is no or very low profit to tax.

 

[Knuttell]

He had one job...

Benny Hill music plays in my head every time I see either him or his boss (OBrien)on telly.

 

[updadubs]

What hope do small landlords who have been hammered and losing money year on year have
when this kind of thing is happening... so unfair, i only ever wanted something to pass after my day to my kids, never charged anything near market rate, even having to get a credit union loan to pay tax bill and get vilified for years of hardship

 

[Always Learning]

Until the housing crisis is over..... so forever then.

 

[Leo]

Assuming it passes all stages, how soon before enactment?

Why assume it will pass all stages? If the government really had intended to block it, would it not be safer to assume they will be sure to block it at second reading?

 

[AlbacoreA]

Why assume it will pass all stages? If the government really had intended to block it, would it not be safer to assume they will be sure to block it at second reading?

Why would they block it at all?

They don't seem to care about LL leaving, or Tenants being evicted. I'm not entirely sure what the Govt care about.

 

[Leo]

Why would they block it at all?

That's what governments do, block opposition measures.

I'm not entirely sure what the Govt care about.

Getting reelected mainly, and the same applies for most of the opposition.

 

[Luternau]

Why would they block it at all?

They don't seem to care about LL leaving, or Tenants being evicted. I'm not entirely sure what the Govt care about.

It was hypothetical. Anyway, nobody can be sure what happens till it happens. This bill could be quite divisive and TD's break ranks to vote against the Government.

 

[AlbacoreA]

That's what governments do, block opposition measures.

Getting reelected mainly, and the same applies for most of the opposition.

You are right of course.

But they are meant to run the country, provide for its people. They seem to have forgotten that.

 

[Leo]

But they are meant to run the country, provide for its people. They seem to have forgotten that.

Politicians are not rewarded for taking hard decisions for the greater good. The electorate want them to pander to their whims and serve their isolated interests. Rent controls are a perfect example of the dysfunction that results, I doubt many politicians realistically expected that they would benefit those calling for them, but the people did call for them in large numbers, and so the politicians had to respond.

 

[AlbacoreA]

They didn't simply do a mirror copy of rent controls though. They tweaked them so properties new to the market could be excluded. I have to assume that wasn't accidental. Its pushed tents higher and older rentals out of the market. Primarily small landlords. Happy coincidence? Unlikely.

I don't think the govt are blindly following public opinion. They are certainly trying to give that impression.

 

[AlbacoreA]

Might be slowly dawning that they painted themselves into a corner....

Threat to supply if eviction ban extended - Threshold

The Chief Executive of homeless charity Threshold has said that if the eviction ban were to be extended, there could be a "long-term threat" to the supply of the private rental sector housing market by small landlords.

www.rte.ie

 

[T McGibney]

They didn't simply do a mirror copy of rent controls though. They tweaked them so properties new to the market could be excluded. I have to assume that wasn't accidental. Its pushed tents higher and older rentals out of the market. Primarily small landlords. Happy coincidence? Unlikely.

The government, and its predecessor, were heavily influenced by housing and homelessness charities, whom in turn were got at by institutional investors, which lobbied hard for and ultimately benefitted from rent controls.

Here's the Peter McVerry Trust twitter account @PMVTrust on 20 October 2016:

evidence shows that were rent regulation & price stability exists investment in rental sector is strongest.
...

Not just us it's what major institutional investors say and what they told event organised by Housing Agency

https://twitter.com/PMVTrust/status/789012075012128768?t=n_-_A8UH_FA6_SjakR_wPQ&s=19

 

[Leo]

They didn't simply do a mirror copy of rent controls though. They tweaked them so properties new to the market could be excluded. I have to assume that wasn't accidental.

I suspect they deliberately excluded new-builds as deep down they know the only thing that will ultimately resolve the situation is an increase in supply. If controls had applied to new-builds, even fewer properties would have been built.

 

[AlbacoreA]

It would a very obscure and inefficient way to increase new construction. Also it specifically favors new rentals, not new builds. At time when they introduced legislative changes that ultimately discourage small Landlords, and landlords with low rents. Why would you indirectly encouraging new rentals with higher rents. Who is outbidding small landlord and owner buyers in the market at that time, for new rentals.

 

[Leo]

It would a very obscure and inefficient way to increase new construction. Also it specifically favors new rentals, not new builds.

Yes, but a lot of properties built in the last number of years have been build-to-rent. If rent controls had restricted what they could be rented for, most would not have been built and we'd be in an even worse situation with tens of thousands fewer properties.

As it is. a few months ago Ballymore pulled out of a deal for a site with planning for 1,900 units. With freedom to charge what they liked, they said it was no longer economically viable to build them with increasing input and financing costs.

 

[AlbacoreA]

What stats are you using to quantify the built to rent numbers.

What numbers have you got for build to let in those 1,900 units.

 

[Leo]

What stats are you using to quantify the built to rent numbers.

What numbers have you got for build to let in those 1,900 units.

Media reports such as this one citing more than 50% of units being granted permission are BTR.

The planning for that Ballymore project stated 1,136 of those units were intended to be BTR, their statement cited lack of demand for those units as the reason for pulling out.