Sir, – It appears that a report published last year by private sector consultants DKM has "convinced many in Government that rent controls are not a viable proposal," ("Landlords could raiserents to guard against controls," October 23rd).
Are those in Government not aware that the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) has, subsequent to the DKM study, published a major series of reports on the private rented sector which strongly supports the idea of “secure occupancy”, an idea which includes regulation of rent levels?
A significant factor in promoting a more positive attitude to rent certainty was the publication by the OECD of a study demonstrating that properly constructed rent regulation could result in “a revival of the private rented sector”. (OECD 1170).
There is currently a concerted lobbying effort to imply that anyone who supports any form of rent certainty is economically illiterate. The support of leading bodies such as the OECD and NESC for such measures should demonstrate that these proposals have a strong economic justification.
At present, there are over 730 families living in homeless accommodation across Ireland, with over 1,500 children. This is twice the number who were homeless last year. The overwhelming majority of these families became homeless due to rising rents.
In the absence of some form of control on massively escalating rents, there is no reason to believe that the number will not double again by next year.
The Focus Ireland teams which, with the support of the local authorities, work with all the families in Dublin, see on a day-to-day basis the human cost of family homelessness.
Opponents of rent certainty are deeply concerned about “distorting the market” – perhaps they should keep up to date with the research and become a little more worried about the distortion of the lives of so many children.
– Yours, etc,
MIKE ALLEN,
Director of Advocacy,
Focus Ireland,
9-12 High Street,
Dublin 8.