The government's consideration of an eviction ban is "scaring away landlords" from the market, according to Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has been drawing up proposals for a winter eviction ban, which may be confirmed tonight at a meeting of the leaders of the coalition government.
Pat Davitt, CEO of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers joined The Hard Shoulder to discuss their view on the proposals after a meeting with Minister O'Brien.
"What good an eviction ban is going to do, I suppose that's really the question that people were asking around the table."
'What good would it do?'
Mr Davitt isn't convinced that the government will implement a blanket eviction ban, but that it will only be in some cases and only for a limited time.
"There are timeframes for all that - 90 days to 224 days."
"I can't see how an eviction ban is going to work in the middle of all that", he said.
"It's a very tricky one as to how it's going to work and what's going to happen and how long term it's going to be."
'I can't see it having a huge impact'
Mr Davitt is skeptical of the impact such a ban could have, even among record homelessness figures.
"I can't see it having a huge impact", he said.
"Obviously, when it's finished, as it did with COVID ... then you will see a lot of evictions."
"At the moment, what's causing some of the evictions is that if somebody stops paying their rent ... landlords have no choice but to kick them out."
HAP
There are currently just 35 properties available to rent within the rate of Housing Assistance Payment, a report has found.
Four times a year, the Simon Communities of Ireland publishes its Locked Out of the Market report and this quarter’s has revealed that the housing crisis is getting worse.
Mr Davitt believes there's more the government can do to protect tenants without landlords missing out.
"There is something that the Minister can do. At least he could make sure that the HAP will actually pay the rent even if the tenant stops paying the rent themselves."
He said that the government "tinkering around" with housing regulations "scares away landlords".
"A lot of landlords are very nervous here."
Listen back to the full conversation here.
