Group calls for ‘built to rent’ scheme to boost rental supply

Property professionals are calling on the Government and developers to collaborate on schemes to boost the supply of rental accommodation.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) released a report at its annual conference today - A new model for the private rented sector in Ireland - that proposes a number of measures aimed at tackling the squeeze on accommodation available for tenants.

The SCSI believes the current 9 per cent a year rate of increase in rents is not sustainable in the long term and says that the sector is too dependent on non-professional landlords as well as suffering from a lack of supply.

The report proposes that a “built to rent scheme”, similar to that operated in the UK, be introduced in the Republic. Under this system, developers and Government share the risk of providing specialist rented acccommodation, or the State provides bridging finance that allows such schemes to be built in the first place.

Society president, Pauline Daly, also called for an increase in the level of institutional investment in providing private rented accommodation.

“Previous tax treatments supported the entrance of private individuals into the rental market and we are now seeing the consequences with the high number of buy-to-let mortgages in arrears,” she said.

“We need to encourage more professional investors to enter the market such as pension funds,” Ms Daly argued. “Consideration should also be given to introducing and extending the 12.5 per cent rate of corporate tax for multi-unit rental companies.”