Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Alan Kelly was compared to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho (left) in the Dáil today PA/RollingNews.ie

Alan 'Jose Mourinho' Kelly's big idea to solve the rent crisis is dead

Labour admits it’s unlikely that rent certainty will form part of the government’s plans.

LABOUR HAS THIS evening admitted that the package of measures to address the housing crisis is unlikely to include the form of rent certainty first proposed by Alan Kelly.

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste Joan Burton said this evening that the proposal to link rent increases with the level of inflation for a three-year period is “unlikely to materialise”.

The confirmation will come as a huge blow to the Environment Minister who has championed the proposal since he announced it at the Labour conference in February.

Earlier today in the Dáil, Kelly was compared to controversial Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho for referring to himself in the third person at a recent press event.

During Leaders’ Questions, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said of Kelly:

Worryingly in response – the Jose Mourinho-type response – he goes into the third person and he attacks the ‘cowards’, the ‘anonymous cowards’,  that are leaking against him.

Kelly’s rent certainty plan would have involved index-linking rents which means they would only increase in line with the annual increases in household items – known as the consumer price index.

The Labour deputy leader had wanted to bring in the measure for a period of three years as a temporary solution to soaring rental prices, particularly in Dublin, as more houses were built.

Speaking at the Labour conference in February, Kelly said:

What we’re looking at is a process whereby people can have some certainty as regards rent into the future while [housing] supply is being dealt with.

Sources close to the minister later briefed that the plans would involve landlords not being able to increase rent beyond the rise in the consumer price index.

Increases would only be allowed in circumstances where improvements had been carried out on the property.

screenshot.1446572493.17739 www.thejournal.ie www.thejournal.ie

However Kelly’s proposal met with fierce opposition from Fine Gael and in particular Finance Minister Micheal Noonan. The concerns of the senior coalition partner centred on the potentially negative impact of undue government interference in the housing market.

Yesterday, Noonan and Kelly held what were later described as “constructive and detailed” discussions on measures to tackle the housing crisis.

Measures will include requiring landlords to give 90 days notice of any rental increase, as opposed to the current 30 days. There would also be longer eviction notices and a requirement on landlords to provide justification for rent increases.

5/5/2015. Living City Initiatives Micheal Noonan has opposed Kelly's rent certainty plan Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

The Private Residential Tenancies Board is also set to be given enhanced powers to deal with tenant/landlord disputes.

The government is set to finalise proposals in the coming days before an announcement next week. However the matter was not raised at cabinet today.

On the rent certainty proposal, a senior government source said this evening:

That’s unlikely to happen at this stage… There will be other measures and we’re absolutely sure that the package will address both supply and rental issues.

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste insisted this evening that any measures that are announced would be a priority for the government to implement before the election next year.

“Alan Kelly has been very, very clear on this for a long time. The scale of the issue means it has to be addressed as an emergency,” they insisted.

A spokesperson for Kelly said this evening that all measures remain under discussion and that the final package would have to be “commensurate to the size of the problem”.

Read: Alan Kelly’s big idea to solve the rental crisis could be dead in the water

State of the Nation: How on earth will the government solve the rental crisis?

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
95 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ariana
    Favourite Ariana
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 7:05 PM

    This must be one of the hardest things to deal with as a parent.

    197
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Harding
    Favourite Stephen Harding
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 7:08 PM

    @Ariana: That your son is a terrorist and a murderer?

    69
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Deborah Behan
    Favourite Deborah Behan
    Report
    Mar 28th 2017, 11:13 AM

    @Elle Belle: he converted to Islam his mother did not and she is as much a victim as the other families. My heart goes out to all the people devastated by this one man’s actions.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Just Me
    Favourite Just Me
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 7:29 PM

    At the end of the day, she did’nt send him out to murder those people. It’s not her fault.

    218
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fred O'Connor
    Favourite Fred O'Connor
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 8:22 PM

    It would be great if the Journal and other publications would stop publishing the photos and life stories of mass killers. They commit these atrocities for attention. The next mass killer will expect the same attention. You can still report on the attacks and the victims.

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris lynch
    Favourite Chris lynch
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 10:04 PM

    @Fred O’Connor: 100% agree with you Fred. I couldn’t give a rats ass about the man or his family.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gerard Henry
    Favourite Gerard Henry
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 8:47 PM

    Europe wil burn if they don’t take tougher measures against these isil people .they know who they are and how dangerous they are but chose to do nothing until after they attack.when one is positively identified the next move is to take him out of the picture

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave O Keeffe
    Favourite Dave O Keeffe
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 9:01 PM

    @Gerard Henry: by all accounts he’s not actually an “isil person” just an a$$hole wanting to justify his a$$holery

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jimmyjoe Wallace
    Favourite Jimmyjoe Wallace
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 9:47 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: he’d being seeing a psychiatrist about his urges to kill, and he wasn’t a very strict Muslim himself, apparently. He was a psychopath and not really a Jihadist I don’t think.

    24
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave O Keeffe
    Favourite Dave O Keeffe
    Report
    Mar 28th 2017, 5:37 PM

    @Jimmyjoe Wallace: like the deathbed conversion to Catholicism.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jlocoroco
    Favourite Jlocoroco
    Report
    Mar 27th 2017, 9:53 PM

    Isn’t she dead sound

    2
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      News in 60 seconds