Proposed new legislation to regulate the rapidly changing rental market is not adequate in its current form and needs to be altered to tackle the challenges facing both tenants and landlords, according to Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing Michael Kitt.

Speaking on the Residential Tenancies Bill in the Dáil this week, Deputy Kitt stressed the importance of having strong legislation ensuring that renting is a safe, stable and secure form of finding living accommodation.

Deputy Kitt said: "There is no doubt that we need to speed up the process of resolving the growing number of disputes between landlords and tenants and that a better system is required to deal with tenants in situ who refuse to pay their rent. But the Government's proposals in their current form do not adequately address these issues.

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"One of the major concerns about the Residential Tenancies Bill as it stands is the lack of clarity over what happens when a landlord inexplicably refuses to a return a deposit. Around 72% of all cases taken by tenants in 2010 related to a refusal to refund the deposit.

"The most common complaint from landlords concerned rent arrears and breaches of other tenancy obligations. And yet, there is nothing in this bill dealing with tenants who are in rent arrears. There are no proposed changes to the controversial provisions on 'anti-social behaviour'.

"I have met with a number of housing organisations and charities including the Simon Community, Focus Ireland and Threshold to discuss the problems in relation to deposit retention. I have also raised the anomaly in rent allowance, whereby in a county like Galway, people in the city and in the rural areas get the same payment. This does not at all reflect the reality, as rents are higher in the city than in the county. It is clear that the one-size-fits-all approach does not work and is unfair on many people."

Deputy Kitt also highlighted the problem faced by many students in finding accommodation, as most leases are for 12-months while many students only need rental accommodation for 8 to 9 months.

(CD/GK)