Alliance Party Housing spokesperson Kellie Armstrong has called for the Communities Minister to limit rent increases to once a year. This is one of several measures she believes are necessary to assist private renters who are struggling to afford food and facing homelessness.
As part of Alliance's New Deal for Private Renters proposal launch, the Strangford MLA highlighted the issues of unaffordable rent increases, lack of security, and long delays for basic repairs that are making life difficult for private renters across Northern Ireland.
The proposal includes an affordable rent 'triple lock', which consists of limiting rent increases, conducting an annual review of local housing allowance, and banning inflation-busting rent hikes during tenancies. It also suggests prohibiting no-fault evictions, capping short-term holiday lets, and establishing a local Housing Ombudsman with legal powers to protect renters.
"For too many private renters in Northern Ireland today, life is defined by a constant fight to keep a roof over your head, spiralling rent hikes and the ever-present threat of being evicted and ending up homeless," Ms Armstrong expressed.
"These challenges aren’t new, but the Communities Minister has made no tangible progress in tackling them in over a year of being in office. He’s asleep at the wheel while our private renters struggle to put food on the table and rely on emergency credit to survive between paydays.
"There are over 300,000 people living in the local private rented sector and they deserve the same protections and security enjoyed by renters elsewhere. Legal mechanisms, including limiting rent increases to once a year, as well as a raft of other measures outlined in the Alliance New Deal for Private Renters, would end the daily misery faced by so many private renters across Northern Ireland."
Other suggestions in the report include creating a new Empty Homes Taskforce and a cap on short-term holiday lets to convert more existing housing stock into affordable rental accommodation. The proposal also calls for the suspension of the Housing Executive’s Right to Buy scheme, a ban on no-fault evictions, legislation to make open-ended tenancies the default in Northern Ireland’s private rented sector, and a review of minimum fitness standards in the private rented sector.
It also proposes statutory maximum timescales for landlords to investigate and carry out repair and maintenance work.
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our politics newsletter here.
English (United States) ·