{"id":5273,"date":"2024-07-03T10:26:41","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T10:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/?p=5273"},"modified":"2024-07-03T10:26:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T10:26:41","slug":"sinn-fein-brings-forward-legislation-to-give-greater-protections-for-student-renters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/sinn-fein-brings-forward-legislation-to-give-greater-protections-for-student-renters\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in brings forward legislation to give greater protections for student renters"},"content":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in TD for Dublin South West Se\u00e1n Crowe has today called on the government to support Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s legislation to give greater protections and ensure better affordability for student renters.<br \/><br \/>The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024 will be debated at second stage in the D\u00e1il this week.<br \/><br \/>It deals with so-called \u2018digs\u2019 accommodation, which is where a student rents a room in which the homeowner also resides as part of the \u2018Rent a Room\u2019 scheme. <br \/><br \/>Despite this state scheme providing tax relief of up to \u20ac14,000 a year under this scheme to the homeowner, there are no obligations to give even basic protections to those renting the room. <br \/><br \/>This is an area which has been described as the \u2018Wild West\u2019 of the rental sector and identified as in need of reform.<br \/><br \/>Teachta Crowe said:<br \/><br \/>\u201cStudents living in \u2018digs\u2019 accommodation under the \u2018Rent a Room\u2019 scheme lack the most basic of protections that are afforded to other renters. It has been described as the \u2018Wild West\u2019 of the rental sector, with Threshold pointing out that those renting such rooms have \u2018effectively have no rights\u2019. <br \/><br \/>\u201cUnder the current legislation, students have: <br \/>\u2022\tNo right to a rent book, or a notice period meaning the student can be evicted overnight. <br \/>\u2022\tNo rights to privacy such as a lock on the bedroom door which is a real concern for young women.<br \/>\u2022\tNo rights to reasonable use of facilities like the kitchen and bathroom.<br \/>\u2022\tNo access to the rent pressure zones, or prevention of the rent being increased overnight without notice.<br \/>\u2022\tNo access for either party (student or homeowner) to the RTB for dispute resolution.<br \/><br \/>\u201cNot only would this Sinn F\u00e9in legislation give protections for student renters which have badly been lacking, but it also gives protections to the homeowners themselves.<br \/><br \/>\u201cJust as it creates greater obligations on the homeowners, it also creates obligations on the student renters ensuring that they pay their rent on time and in full, that they do not engage in anti-social behaviour or damage the property.<br \/><br \/>\u201cThis Bill gives greater protection, certainty, and support for both parties to these housing arrangements.<br \/><br \/>\u201cThe cost to the Exchequer in 2018, which is the latest year available, of this tax expenditure was around \u20ac20m. The cost is likely to have increased since then due to the growing popularity of the scheme.<br \/><br \/>\u201cIt is only fair that this tax subsidy comes with some protections for those students renting the rooms. <br \/><br \/>\u201cSinn F\u00e9in would stand up for student renters in government, and this Bill is just one element of our plan for addressing the student housing crisis.\u201d <br \/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sinn F\u00e9in TD for Dublin South West Se\u00e1n Crowe has today called on the government to support Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s legislation to give greater protections and ensure better affordability for student renters. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024 will be debated at second stage in the D\u00e1il this week. It deals with so-called \u2018digs\u2019 accommodation, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5274,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions\/5274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}