Sir, - I have recently come across two cases of residential tenants being given four weeks' notice to quit. The latest notice requests vacancy on December 23rd! The tenants have minimal rights as a result of the Dβil's continual failure to implement the recommendation of numerous review groups.
At the same time, the two main Dβil parties are competing with each other to attract the landlord lobby with promises of reduced stamp duty and mortgage interest relief. This same landlord sector has been the primary beneficiary of "windfall gains" in the recent boom in property prices and rents while at the same time benefiting from very significant tax concessions in the form of S.23 type reliefs and a halving of the rate of capital gains tax.
The solution to the housing crisis in not for the legislature to give tax incentives to put an increased number of private houses in the hands of the few. The recent drop in house prices (partly due to a retreat by investors) should be welcomed and tax legislation should encourage and not reverse this trend. - Yours, etc.,
Jimmy Fennelly, Ranelagh Road, Dublin 6.