Sinn Féin housing spokesperson, Dessie Ellis TD, has called on the Minister for Finance and Financial Regulator to work with the financial institutions to develop a code of conduct for receivers of buy-to-let properties.

He made his comments during a topical issue debate in the Dáil referring to the negative experiences of some tenants who have not had their rights respected by receivers who have taken up properties which had current tenants.

Deputy Ellis continued: "There is a crisis in the buy-to-let market. Some 29% of the 150,000 buy-to-let mortgages are in arrears. 17% are in arrears for 90 days or more. This means a staggering 26,770 rental properties are at risk of serious default.

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"One of the most immediate consequences of this crisis is that the people who live in these properties are at great risk.

"A receiver is appointed by the bank and writes to the tenant demanding that from that point on the rest must be paid to the receiver directly and not to the landlord. This is fine and some receivers treat tenants with due respect for their rights but this is not always the case.

"As the buy-to-let mortgage crisis gets worse, we are going to have more and more tenants left in this precarious position. There is a need for the Government to get a handle on this problem. They must immediately instruct the Central Bank to bring the receivers and banks to the table and hammer out a clear code of conduct.

"At the centre of this code of conduct must be a commitment by the receivers to honour the terms and obligations of the tenancy agreement.

"No tenant should be allowed to go homeless as a result of the appointment of a receiver.

"No tenant should lose their deposit because of the appointment of a receiver."

(CD/GK)