‘Why can’t the Government abolish rental income tax on properties below €1,000?’

Evicted tenant in rent pressure zone (interview conducted by Eva Short):

“I am currently packing my boxes to move out of home for three years. I have a daughter in primary school here and I don’t want to uproot her from her home where she has made a lot of friends, but after being served with eviction notice two weeks ago I have no choice in the matter.

“My house is located in a rent pressure zone. Due to this, my landlord has stated that it is no longer financially viable for her to continue letting the property. I have had the property at a good price, paying €1,200 since the last rent increase 12 months ago. The eviction poses a challenge because other properties of this type in my area are €700-€900 more than I am paying now and house rentals are in very short supply.

“I am prepared to pay the landlord an extra €200-€300 per month to remain here; however doing so would put us both in breach of the law as such an increase is in excess of 7 per cent cap on rent increase.

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“I have since found a property 18km north of where I live now at a cost of €1,500 per month. I wanted to act quickly, so I’ve already started moving out and should be vacating my current home next week. The location of the new place is not ideal, but I am extremely fortunate that right now I can just afford it, although saving for a mortgage has just become even more difficult as a result.

“I realise that there are people in far worse situations. I’m lucky to have found somewhere so I am not complaining about that.

False pretences

Some people have warned me that my landlord could possibly be booting me out under false pretences – if she was, what can I do? When a landlord serves you an eviction, what choice does a tenant have? I could go to the Rental Tenancy Board, but I have heard that can take upwards of a year and I don’t have the time, energy or resources to chase that right now.

“I think this is the reason Irish people are so obsessed with buying a property; it sucks to be a tenant. There aren’t adequate protections in place.

“I understand the legislation is there to protect the majority of people from rental increases in pressure zones. I simply want to point out that the legislation is poorly thought out and is actually adding more pressure to the market, as in this case, it negatively affects both landlord and tenant, the result – one less property on the rental market, one more tenant looking for rental accommodation.

“Why can’t government abolish rental income tax on properties below a certain price, for example €1,000? This would encourage more landlords to put properties on the market, make it more profitable and also encourage landlords to keep their rents below €1,000. Of course, this leaves a hole in the exchequer, but seriously, how much are we paying out to house people in hotel rooms?”