A HOME OF YOUR OWN

Private Homes

In addition to delivering the most ambitious public housing programme in the history of the state, a Sinn Féin Government would also introduce a series of reforms that would activate the private residential development sector to fund and build 175,000 private homes to buy and rent over five years for first time buyers & others. These reforms would support the building of private homes to high standards while reducing developer risk and cost, resulting in a moderation of prices for new homes and new rental stock.

Private Purchase Homes

Sinn Féin’s approach would also seek to reverse the trend in recent years towards increased private rental sector supply, in favour of owner occupation. Dr Lorcan Sirr of TUD Dublin has produced an independent analysis of stamp duty transactions since 2017 (see table below). What his analysis shows is that despite an overall increase in new home completions since 2017, the number of homes being sold on the market to individual buyers has remained relatively static in real terms but falling significantly in per centage terms.

Importantly Sirr’s analysis includes government funded Affordable Purchase Scheme homes from 2022 and 2023 in his stamp duty transaction figures. When these are excluded the number of new homes for sale on the open market in those years are 8,726 in 2022 and 8,412 in 2023.

The current Governments housing plan includes an annual average private home delivery target of 18,300 homes a year out to 2030, with an average annual breakdown of 11,800 owner occupier and 6,500 private rental homes. To date they have missed their owner occupier target significantly. Government cannot control private sector output in the same way as it can with public sector output. However, Sinn Féin wants to see a rebalancing of private sector output in favour of homes for sale to owner occupiers.

To achieve this in Government we would work with the private residential development sector with the aim of delivering an annual average of 23,000 owner occupier homes, 7,000 private rental homes and 5,000 self-build homes. If achieved, this would mean a total of 25,000 self builds, 35,000 private rental and 115,000 owner occupier homes over five years as set out in the table below.

Property Price Inflation

Since 2016 the price paid for new homes has increased by 55%. The rate of inflation for purchases by non-occupiers has been even higher at 102%. Inflation on the purchase of new homes by former owner-occupiers was 33%, and for first time buyers was 38%.

Residential property price inflation is not just a function of the supply of and demand for new homes. It is also driven by interest rates, land values, supply chain challenges, affordable public housing delivery and Government policy interventions including rent regulation and developer subsidies. A range of factors have been driving the price of new homes since 2016. Some external factors, such as Brexit, Covid, the war in Ukraine and ECB interest rate rises, are beyond Governments control. However, other factors, such as rental yields and demand side subsidies, Government can control.

Sinn Féin believes that Government’s failure to apply rent regulation to new build-to-rent stock and the low-to-no tax regime for institutional investors has increased the price paid for new rental properties which in turn has driven up rents.

Sinn Féin also believes that the introduction of so-called Help To Buy scheme in 2017, its expansion in 2020 and the introduction of the high risk First Home shared equity scheme in 2022 have contributed to inflation in the price of private homes to buy.

The private residential development sector is one of the most heavily subsidised industries in the state. The average Help to Buy subsidy, according to a 2022 report from the Oireachtas Parliamentary Budget Office report was €24,000. The current average First Home Scheme equity loan is €66,000. When combined this represents a subsidy to the developer of €90,000. The maximum such subsidy in Dublin can be as high as €150,000 for an apartment priced at €500,000.

Other subsidies to developers including the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, The Croí Cónaithe Cities fund and the Development Levy and Utility Connection Waiver scheme have not resulted in any reduction in the price of new homes.

Constant attempts by Government to narrow what developers call the viability-affordability gap, with direct and indirect subsidies, have had the opposite effect. Government policies that chase that viability-affordability gap have in fact widened it significantly. Despite the existence of significant subsidies to private residential developers, the supply of new homes to buy on the market has not been increasing. Indeed, it has been decreasing as a percentage of overall completions.

Activating the Private Residential Development Sector

Sinn Féin’s believes that there is a better way to support the delivery of private residential homes to buy and rent, which would increase supply and reduce costs at the same time. 

Our approach in Government would be to introduce a range of policies and resources that would shorten the residential development time frame, de-risk the private developer, and in turn reduce development costs.

Planning Reforms

In Government Sinn Féin would ensure that our planning authorities have the resources to make good quality decisions in a timely manner. Currently Local Authorities have a planning staff deficit of approximately 500. An Bord Pleanála has a staff deficit of at least 50.

In Government Sinn Féin would undertake an immediate review of the staffing requirements of all planning authorities, taking account of current and future demands, in the context of Sinn Féin’s alternative housing plan. This review would be concluded within six months and result in a five-year work force plan, with appropriate resources to ensure that both Local Authorities and An Bord Pleanála are in a position to scale up their operations in line with Sinn Féin’s increased housing targets.

Sinn Féin would also increase the number of full-time judges on the High Courts planning and environmental panel to five to ensure that where judicial reviews are taken, they are expedited in a timely manner. This increased level of staffing would be accompanied by a more comprehensive and ambitious series of statutory timelines for all stages of the planning process including pre-planning meetings, further information requests, decisions by An Bord Pleanála and Judicial Review decisions.

Currently standard planning applications for residential development are only subject to statutory timelines at Local Authority decision phase. There are no timelines for pre-planning, further information or appeal or judicial review phase. This means that in many instances a planning application if appealed can take over a year and in some instances even longer. If the appeal is then subject to a judicial review the final grant can take over two years.

The introduction of the Large-scale Residential Development process in 2022 has provided statutory timelines for both the initial decision and appeal stages. This has improved the timeline for decisions for these applications. 

These improvements must be applied to all residential planning applications and extended to the judicial review process. Ultimately this is a matter of resourcing. Sinn Féin’s proposed timelines are set out below and represent a significant time saving in the final decision timeline across all stages of the planning and court processes:

It is important to remember that the vast majority of planning applications are approved by the Planning Authority (87% in 2022). Only a small percentage are appealed to An Bord Pleanála (7% in 2022) and an even smaller number being subsequently challenged in the courts (4% of appeals, 0.28% of applications)

Use it or lose it planning permission

In return for more efficient planning decision timelines, it is reasonable to expect that developers commence and complete their permissions within the approved timeframe. Sinn Féin will introduce legislation to allow Planning Authorities to apply commencement and work progress timelines as part of any grant of permission.

We will also empower Planning Authorities to withdraw planning permissions where in their opinion such conditions are not met and the landowner or developer is unable to justify why the development has not commenced. Arising from the streamlined planning decision timelines set out above the default position of a Planning Authority will be that any development consent granted within these timelines is assumed to be viable. Any delay in commencement or reasonable progress of development in such cases will be assumed to be speculative and result in withdrawal of the permission. This proposal will not apply to one off or self-build developments. 

Zoning Reforms

As with planning permissions, Sinn Féin believes that residential zoning should be made on a use it or lose it basis. At the start of each Development Plan review, the previous zoning set out in the outgoing Development Plan should not be assumed as guaranteed in the new draft plan. Currently development plans run for six years. The Governments Planning and Development Bill 2023 proposes extending this to 10 years with a mid-term review.

In Sinn Féin’s view, where a landowner or developer has not either sought planning permission on land zoned residential or where planning permissions have not been activated, the land’s residential zoning should not be automatically carried over in the development plan review. 

Rather the landowner or developer will be required to justify why the land in question was not subject to development during the lifetime of the previous development plan. Where legitimate grounds can be provided, such as legal challenges, economic conditions etc, then continued residential zoning can be considered. However, where landowners and developers cannot provide any legitimate grounds for not developing their sites, they must understand that this failure to develop land will result in the removal of the residential zoning.

During any such review, landowners, or developers with non-residentially zoned land contiguous to undeveloped zoned land, or in other suitable locations as per the core strategy of the Development Plan, will be invited to apply for residential zoning to ensure that any de-zoning for failure to develop land will be matched, where possible, by a corresponding residential zoning, to ensure an appropriate supply of residentially zoned land.

Existing Use Value Compulsory Purchase Orders

Where a landowner or developer is refusing to develop land with residential zoning and/or planning permission the state should have an option to compulsorily purchase the land at existing use value. This land would then either be used for public housing or sold on the open market to a developer who will develop the site for private housing.

Such compulsory purchases could only occur where an appropriate master plan was in place (such as an SDZ, UDZ or CDS) and subject to appropriate legal safeguards.

This will ensure that land determined by Development Plans and associated master plans as appropriate for residential development is either developed by the landowner or developer or is transferred to an appropriate public or private actor for the purposes of development.

Development Finance

Development finance, particularly for SME residential developers is too expensive. Whether secured from mainstream banks, equity investors or the states lender Home Building Finance Ireland, the cost of capital is simply too high. The consequence is either to render much needed residential schemes unviable or unaffordable. This problem is particularly acute outside Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area.

Sinn Féin believes that there is a need to refocus Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) as a lender of more competitively priced development funding for the SME building sector, where the high cost of mainstream finance creates viability or affordability risks to the development in question.

In Government, Sinn Féin would amend the legislation underpinning HBFI to provide for a specific loan product for this sector, based on a viability and affordability assessment. A lower cost finance will be provided where such an assessment concludes that higher cost mainstream finance renders the development unviable or unaffordable. The scheme would operate on a similar basis to the Local Authority Home Loan in order to be in compliance with EU state aid rules.

Site Servicing

Funding and delivering enabling infrastructure and site servicing can also be a significant barrier to commencing and completing residential development. This challenge led Cork County Council and the Strategic Investment Fund to create the Housing Services Infrastructure Company. HISCo, in collaboration with private developers, forward funds and manages the delivery of enabling infrastructure and site servicing. 

Private developers pay for these services on a commercial basis but at the latter end of the development process. This removes the up-front funding requirement from developers, reducing their borrowing requirements and helping to activate sites more quickly. HISCo has proved to be a considerable success in a number of key projects providing access roads and other enabling infrastructure unlocking residential development sites.

In Government Sinn Féin would scale HISCo up to provide such services on a wider basis to assist the delivery of much needed private residential homes. 

Compact Development Site Support Programme

Sinn Féin supports the concept of compact urban growth in our cities and towns. The benefits of transforming brownfield or commercial sites into higher density, mixed use developments providing public and private housing are many.

Such developments contribute to urban renewal, facilitate greater use of existing buildings, ensures new development is built in proximity to existing services and amenities all of which assists in reducing the carbon footprint of new residential development.

However, Sinn Féin also understands the very significant barriers to the development of inner urban brownfield or commercial sites. These include the risks inherent in securing appropriate zoning and planning and the costs of site preparation and servicing.

There is also a potential for speculative land acquisition or hoarding of sites that have the potential for higher density inner urban development. To address these barriers and risks in Government Sinn Féin would introduce a Compact Development Site Support Programme.

This programme would involve a package of supports provided by a Local Authority, HBFI and HISCo to private residential developers who want to develop higher density mixed use schemes on inner urban sites where compact growth is desirable. These supports will be provided on a commercial basis by the public authorities but in a manner that significantly de-risks the development process, reducing time and cost. The programme would involve the designation of sites by the Local Authority as Compact Growth Sites, including where such designation was initially proposed by a landowner or potential developer.

Zoning on the site would be conditional on an in principal agreement between the developer and Local Authority on the parameters of the scheme in terms of use, density, and tenure mix. The Local Authority would masterplan the site with appropriate consultation with the landowner and the wider public.

The formal planning application process would then be reduced to a single stage without recourse to an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, as is currently the case with Strategic Development Zones. This would not result in any reduction in public participation as formal opportunities to engage with both the master planning stage and the formal planning application would be available. On foot of planning, enabling infrastructure and site servicing would be provided by HISCo on a forwarded funded commercial basis. 

Developers would also have access to Home Building Finance Ireland’s competitive funding product in recognition of the very significant viability and affordability challenges that would exist on such projects without these supports. This combination of zoning, planning, site servicing and funding supports would both reduce the development timeline and a significant level of development risk. This in turn would reduce the all-in development cost for the residential component of any such development. For a developer to be able to avail of this package of supports there would be a requirement that such all in development cost reductions would result in price reductions for the purchase or renting of the residential units. 

This would be determined through an open-book engagement between the Local Authority and developer throughout the course of the support programme.

The Compact Development Site Support Programme would operate on sites ranging from small to large as determined by the City or County Development Plan, local housing need and developer interest.

In its design and implementation, the support programme must be flexible and nimble to allow timely development on sites that have a significant potential to deliver compact growth.

Priority Urban Development Zones

Sinn Féin supports the reform of the Strategic Development Zone master planning process into Urban Development Zones.

The proposed changes to the SDZ process provide for greater flexibility. However as with the current SDZs, the process is likely to remain slow and coordination between landowners, developers, Government Departments, and semi state utilities will continue to be challenging.

There is a need to review and reform the process of implementing SDZ and future UDZs and in those locations deemed by Government as a particular priority to put in place more effective mechanisms for implementing development at pace.

Sinn Féin believes that there is a need to designate certain Development Zones as priorities which in turn would enable them to leverage additional resources such as the Urban Regional Development Fund or to make a priority call on the existing capital programmes of semi state utilities, public service providers such as transport and education and Local Authority Development Levies. 

The North Quays in Waterford City, South Dock in Cork City, Poolbeg West in Dublin City and City’s Edge between Dublin City and South County Dublin are prime examples of where a prioritisation would lead to greater resource allocation and inter agency coordination, ensure delivery in a timelier fashion.

In Government Sinn Féin would legislate to give Government, in partnership with Local Authorities the power to designate such sites as Priority Development Zones. The aim would be to accelerate the delivery of residential and other development on these sites.

Multi-Annual Turnkey Framework Agreements

As detailed in Chapter Three the delivery of Sinn Féin’s ambitious public housing programme will require the continued use of turnkey forward purchase agreements with private developers.

One of the down sides of the use of turnkey agreements is a reduction in the number of private homes developed for the owner occupier market.

Sinn Féin’s proposal for the creation of multi annual framework agreements with large private developers for the delivery of turnkey social and affordable housing is that it will also increase the overall quantum of private homes for the private market.

As detailed in chapter 3 this can be achieved by the state stepping in with development finance for its portion of the development. In turn the private developers own development capital is freed up to be invested in increasing the overall volume of new homes. 

Targeting the Development Levy & Water Connection Waiver

The current development levy and water connection waiver is an expensive and untargeted measure. Large profitable residential developers or institutional investors in the private rental sector do not need such a waiver. In these sectors the waiver does not increase development, nor does it lead to lower prices. Rather it simply boosts the profits of developers and speculative funds who are already making a significant return on their investment.

However, there is a case to be made for the application of such a waiver for SME developers, serving the owner occupier market, with viability and affordability challenges or on inner urban higher density schemes that face similar challenges. In Government Sinn Féin would reform the current waiver scheme to ensure that it is only available for developments where it is required. This would be reviewed annually.

The detail of the waiver would be published following consultations with Local Authorities, Uisce Éireann, and the Irish Home Builders Association. It would be regularly reviewed to ensure that the funding contributing to increased supply and reduced costs. 

Stamp Duty Exemption

Sinn Féin would introduce a stamp duty exemption for First Time Buyers, so that if you are buying your first home you will pay no stamp duty on a property valued at €450,000 or less.

Phasing out the Help to Buy Scheme

The Help to Buy scheme was introduced in 2017. To date almost €1bn has been spent on this scheme. Two independent reports have been highly critical of the scheme. The Oireachtas Parliamentary Budget Office (OPBO) report in 2021 and the Department of Finance commissioned Mazars review in 2022 highlighted that a third of those who received the funding did not need it and half of all Help to Buy funding went to this cohort of buyers. The Mazars report recommended phasing out the Help to Buy scheme. 

More broadly many economists and housing policy experts argue that the scheme contributes to house price inflation. Sinn Féin agrees with both the criticisms of the Mazars and OPBR reports and shares the concerns of others that it puts upward pressure on house prices. In light of this Sinn Féin in Government would phase out the Help to Buy scheme, as we are ramping up the delivery of affordable purchase homes.

On assuming office, we would introduce legislation setting out the phased ending of the scheme. We would immediately raise the Loan to Value Ratio to 85%, with a maximum relief of €30,000. The rate of relief would then be reduced by €6,000 in each subsequent budget, to €6000 in 2029. The scheme would close to new applicants in December 2029.

The timeline for phasing out the Help to Buy scheme would be as follows:

Ending the First Home Scheme

The First Home Scheme was introduced in 2021 following significant lobbying from the developer and institutional investment lobby. It is closely based on a shared equity scheme in Britain called the Help to Buy scheme (not to be confused with the Irish Help to Buy scheme).

There is a significant body of research from the London School of Economics empirically demonstrating the negative impact of the UK equity scheme on house prices in high demand areas.

During the passage of the legislation underpinning the scheme in the Oireachtas in 2021 it was sharply criticised by both the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Central Bank.

Indeed, concerns from the Central Bank resulted in a significant delay in the schemes introduction and a significant reduction in the volume of equity that the scheme would acquire over time. Sinn Féin is fundamentally opposed to this scheme. It will push up house prices and create significant risk for home buyers.

On this basis in Government Sinn Féin would immediately close the scheme to new applicants. Existing applicants with approvals under the First Home scheme would have those approvals honoured.

Ending other subsidies

In addition to Help to Buy and the First Home scheme there are a number of other subsidies to developers including the Local Infrastructure Activation Fund and the Croí Conaithe Cities fund. In Government Sinn Féin would undertake a review of these funds with a view to determining the best course of action with respect to contracts signed to date and uncommitted expenditure. During the review no new contracts for these funds would be entered into.

The guiding principle with respect to existing contracts and uncommitted expenditure would be to ensure, in as much as is possible, that such contracts and uncommitted expenditure are used to deliver genuinely affordable homes under the various affordable housing schemes set out in Chapter Three.

Private Rental Homes

Regulating the Private Rental Sector

The private rental sector grew rapidly and dramatically during both the Celtic Tiger era and the subsequent financial crash. In 2005 there were 83,983 private rental tenancies registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. By 2015 this number had increased by 280% to 319,609 tenancies.

Much of this growth was in the form of single property landlords, with a small portion made up of commercial landlords of small to medium sized portfolios. Within the single property landlord sector there is significant variance as to how people became landlords. Many purchased investment properties during the Celtic Tiger era with buy-to-let mortgage tax reliefs, often to supplement their pension income or lump sum on retirement. Others inherited a family home and opted to rent it out. A further group never intended to become landlords but were trapped in negative equity and forced to rent their first home out while they traded up to a larger rental property or second home as their family size grew. This cluster of single property landlords are generally semi-professional in nature often underestimate the volume of work involved in maintaining a rental property.

The return of positive equity to the market in 2016, the age profile of much of this sector, and the fast pace of regulation in the private rental sector since 2016 has led to a steady flow of single property landlords from the market. Registrations with the RTB witnessed a 22% decline from 2015 to 2022, with 246,453 private rental tenancies registered in that year. Thus, according to the RTB 73,156 rental tenancies left the sector during the seven years from 2016 to 2022.

However, the 2022 Census contradicts this data as 330,632 households stated that they were living in the private rental sector on census night. This is a difference of 84,179 tenancies when compared by the RTB registration data for the same year. Some of this difference can be explained by illegal non-registration with the RTB, those renting from family who are not required to have their tenancy registered with the RTB and tenants living in long term leasing tenancies managed by AHB but declaring them as private rentals on their census form. However, this would not account for all of the 84,179 gap between the RTB and CSO figures. Both organisations are currently undertaking data analysis to better understand this gap.

Whatever the outcome of that research the private rental sector is contracting as a portion of single property landlords are selling up. This is confirmed by the steady volume of Notices of Termination’s issued by landlords and the large volume of these notices that are issued on grounds of sale.

While a portion of this loss of rental stock is being compensated for by the arrival of institutional investors in the private rental sector, this new sector remains a relatively small portion of the rental market and is heavily concentrated in Dublin.

Expensive and Insecure

During all of this time rents in the private rental sector, for both existing and new tenants, have been rising. Since 2011, average new rents have increased by 110%, with Dublin City rents rising from a monthly average of €996 in 2011 to €2,098 in 2023. State-wide average new monthly rents have increased from €760 to €1,594.

Since 2023, the RTB now publish a rent index for both new and existing renters. During 2023 new rents had increased by 9% while existing rents increased by almost 6%. A third of private rental tenancies are made up of social housing tenants subsidised via Rent Supplement, the Rental Accommodation Scheme, the Housing Assistance Payment and Long-Term Leasing. 10% of these tenancies are in receipt of the higher rate of HAP for people at risk of or exiting homelessness.

Tenants often pay a significant top up bringing their rent to 33% of the net disposable income, paying significantly more than their counterparts in Council or AHB tenancies. Research from the ESRI has also highlighted the large proportion of renters, not in receipt of state subsidies, who have high housing costs. Private renters, particularly those living in Dublin and those on lower incomes can be paying as much as 40% of their disposable income on private rents.

This causes particular problems for workers approaching pension age living in the private rental sector. The 2022 census recorded an 87% increase in private renters over the age of 55, compared with the previous census. As the gap between existing rents and new rents remain significant and with up to 20,000 notices of termination issued in 2023, insecurity and affordability for a very significant number of renters is a serious challenge.

Thresholds 2024 renters’ sentiment study found that 74% of those surveyed struggle to pay bills after paying rent; 53% feel insecure in their homes; 42% say their rents rise in the previous 12 months; and just 6% were in the private rental sector by choice.

Too many people are being forced to live in the private rental sector when it clearly does not meet their housing needs. Meanwhile poor regulation and bad policy has created a sector that is semi-professional, insecure and increasingly expensive.

Reforming the Private Rental Sector

Sinn Féin believes that we need a stable private rental sector that provides homes for people who want to live in that sector, either long term or while transitioning to social, affordable or private owner occupation homes.

We want to see a private rental sector that works for both tenants and landlords. That provides tenants with adequate, secure and affordable homes while enabling landlords to make a reasonable return on their investment.

Such a private rental sector would be smaller, as a percentage of the overall housing stock, than which is currently the case. It would also be more professional, less reliant on semi-professional or accidental landlords. 

That does not mean an end to the single-property landlord or the commercial landlord with small portfolios. Rather, it means landlords understanding that their rental property is not only an active investment but they as landlords are providing a professional service.

In Government we would introduce reforms that would reduce the size of the private rental sector as a percentage of the overall housing stock, support the increased professionalisation of the sector while strengthening security of tenure, enforcing minimum standards, and improving affordability.

Sinn Féin would amend the Residential Tenancies Act to make RTB determinations legally enforceable. This would remove the current requirement for either the landlord or tenant who secures an RTB determination in their favour from having to go to court to have that order enforced. Instead, court action would have to be taken to prevent any such order from being enforced. We would also remove the outright prohibition on pets in both private rental tenancies and approved housing bodies tenancies and bring pet policies in line with that of the local authorities.

More secure tenancies 

In Government Sinn Féin would amend Section 34 of the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants greater security of tenure.  We would remove sale of property as grounds for issuing a termination notice. We would also clarify the grounds on which a notice can be issued where a family member requires the use of the property. 

Such grounds would be restricted to the property owners or their children and include grounds where the landlords are at risk of homelessness; where they need the property as their sole residential home including in cases of relationship breakdown or medical need, where they need the property for accessing education.   

More affordable rentals 

In Government Sinn Féin would introduce a three-year emergency ban on rent increases for all existing and new tenancies. This would apply to new tenancies in existing rental stock and to new stock to the market. Rents for new stock would be set at the local reference rent, comprised of a harmonised RTB rent index for new and existing rents in a given location and for a particular property type and size.

The emergency ban on rent increases would automatically expire after three years from which point annual rent reviews would be permissible and set against an index introduced by the Minister for Housing by way of regulation. The index would be introduced following consultation with the ESRI, Threshold the IPOA and IPAV, and will include factors such as wages and interest rates. The purpose of the index will be to ensure rent certainty and affordability while avoiding the unsustainable peaks and troughs that have been a feature of the private rental market since the 2000s.

Sinn Féin’s ban on rent increases would be accompanied by a fully refundable renters tax credit that would put a full month’s rent back into every private renter’s pocket. The tax credit would be set at 8.8% of rent paid annually through a refundable tax credit with a minimum payment of €1,000 and maximum payment of €2,000.

Better Standards

In order to improve standards across the private rental sector and to ensure compliance with minimum standards Sinn Féin would introduce a mandatory certification system for landlords similar to BER certs. Landlords would be required to have their properties independently inspected by the Local Authority every five years. A successful inspection would result in the granting of a Minimum Standards Certification which must be displayed in both the property and when advertising a property for rent.

The cost of the inspection regime would be revenue neutral for the state and would be funded via a €100 charge for each inspection. The inspection regime would be rolled out over four years with 25% of all rental properties being inspected each year, to achieve 100% inspection and certification by the start of year 5.

The mandatory requirement to display certificates would be introduced from year 5 but landlords who have been inspected and provided with their certificated would be required to display them earlier where appropriate. 

Deposit Protection

Sinn Féin would commence the Deposit Protection scheme legislated for in 2015 but never introduced. The scheme would be managed by the Residential Tenancies Board and would hold all tenants’ deposits for the duration of their tenancies. Claims on the deposit by the landlord or tenant would be managed by the RTB at the end of the tenancy and disputes would be handled in the normal manor.

Reforming tenant in situ

As detailed in Chapter Three, Sinn Féin would continue the social and cost rental tenant-in-situ schemes for the full period of Government. We would remove the requirement for a landlord to have served a notice of termination to be eligible to apply for tenant-in-situ. Rather a landlord could engage with the scheme prior to a notice being issued. 

The purpose of the scheme is not simply about preventing people from becoming homeless. It is a valuable way to transfer housing stock from the private rental sector to the social and cost rental sectors.

Our expectation is that the number of landlords issuing vacant possession notices to quit will stabilise and in time reduce, resulting in a lower demand for tenant-in-situ year on year. To meet this demand our housing plan is funded to acquire 6,500 tenant-in-situ tenancies over five years. This would start with 1800 tenant-in-situ acquisitions in 2025 and reduce each year by 250 acquisitions to a final year total of 800 acquisitions in 2029. 

In addition to the five-year funding commitment as detailed in Chapter 3 we would streamline the cost-rental tenant in situ process and ensure that both schemes are properly advertised through the Residential Tenancies Board as tenants are serviced with notices of termination. 

Rent to own 

Many private rental tenants would like to have the option to buy the rental property in which they live. In many cases the rent being paid is equal to or more than the cost of a mortgage. However, access to mortgage finance is a barrier to such purchases. One possible alternative is the introduction of a rent-to-own scheme where a tenant acquires a property over time. Within three months of taking office Sinn Féin would request the Housing Agency to undertake research into rent-to-own schemes. 

The research would look at schemes in existence in Ireland and in other jurisdictions. It would also involve a public consultation with landlords, tenants, their representative bodies, and others to assess the merits and challenges such schemes. The Housing Agency will be asked to make recommendations to Government as to whether such schemes have merit and if so what kind of schemes may best suit an Irish context.

Residential tenancy Board Review

The Residential Tenancies Board has been in operation for 20 years. During that time, it has grown significantly in terms of functions, powers and staffing. In Government Sinn Féin would conduct a comprehensive review of the RTB with a view to improving its efficiency and effectiveness.

Particular attention would be paid to the operation of the dispute resolution functions, enforcement, policy formulation and support services to both landlords and tenants. The review would be accompanied by a work force review leading to an agreed multi annual work force plan to ensure that the powers and functions of the RTB are matched by the appropriate level of staffing.