Latest: Dáil passes revised rent control Bill
The Dáil has finally passed all stages of legislation that will cap rent increases in so-called "pressure zones" at a maximum of 4% per year.
After two days of debate, the legislation finally passed by 52 votes to 43, while there was 25 abstentions.
#Dáil passes the 4% rent cap measure by 53 votes to 43, with the depleted Fianna Fáil benches all abstaining pic.twitter.com/Eo3sj1Hc64
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) December 16, 2016
The legislation must now go before the Seanad next Wednesday - but it remains unclear if it will pass should Fianna Fáil Senators follow their Dáil colleagues and abstain.
A group of up to 5,000 landlords say they will pull out of a State rent scheme and introduce a raft of new charges for tenants.
The Irish Property Owners Association says its response to the new rental strategy legislation will be to make tenants pay charges for car parking, letting costs, registration fees, service charges and more.
They are also introducing a "key" payment at handover, imposing a registration fee and passing on service charges.
The Irish Property Owners Association statement claims its members are “hard-pressed” and “victims of the newest onslaught on the sector” and they are seeking legal advice, saying rent controls were deemed unconstitutional in the early 1980s.
Their statement said: “The measures being introduced are so severe that rents will not cover costs and devaluation of property will be significant all adding to the exit of the Investor.
“It is notable that Government and those demanding change are oblivious to the huge burden that all these measures will have on the tenants and the loss of supply.”
Fianna Fáil has called for the association to be referred to the competition authority.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney told the Dáil: "I've only just seen that press release, but just in case you think that this is - a number of people have described this as some sort of pro-landlord strategy - it doesn't look like the landlords are too happy, to me.
"And I'm not saying that as a good or a bad thing, I'm just saying that we are trying to get the balance right here."
Meanwhile, a sit in at an office block in Dublin has been raised repeatedly in the Dáil.
Supporters of homeless people have taken over Apollo House and say they are turning offices in the NAMA-owned building into bedrooms
Fianna Fáil's Anne Rabbitte got emotional when raising the plight of homeless people to the Dáil.
She said: "It's very easy for us to leave here, walk down Grafton Street and pass people who are actually putting in a bed for the night.
"That's not right, and that's the social conscience in me."
