Why the Rent Reductions bill won't work
PBP introduced a rent reduction bill which was defeated on 14th July 2022, but unfortunately the media narrative around it focused on the politics and ideology rather than the bill itself. This bill was defeated on that debate, but frankly, the bill itself was both the cause and victim of the kind of partisan narrative that fails renters. The bill does 2 things: it sets up a body that will determine rents, and then designates what criteria will be used to determine rents. The body will be made up of "tenants" and "employee representatives." Tenants of what? We have at least 6 different kind of tenant in Ireland: local authority, approved housing body, cost rental/affordable, private rented sector (whole unit), student, and private rented sector (living with landlord). The bill does not say which tenants should be represented. I can only assume "employee representatives" means trade unions but what trade unions? What about representation for non union work...