Fine Gael landlord TD to sell his 10 properties due to rent hike freeze

FINE GAEL TD Tom Barry, who took in €525,550 in pay and expenses from the Oireachtas between March 2011 and July 2014, has complained that he will have to sell ten properties as Government plans to limit the number of allowable rent hikes to one increase every two years is 'infringing his property rights' in a discriminatory manner.

The Fine Gael TD and property speculator, who also owns a grain-drying and warehousing business, purchased ten properties between 2006 and 2008 as “a long-term investment”.

The Cork East TD says he has already sold one of his ten properties and another is sale agreed.

Barry also called for the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), which safeguards the rights of tenants and landlords, “to be scrapped”.

He made the comments after explaining how the PRTB ruled against him on the issue of a non-return of a deposit to a tenant.

Sinn Féin's Housing Spokesperson Dessie Ellis has described Government plans to limit rent increases to once every two years as a “pale shadow of Rent Certainty”:

“Delaying unaffordable rents becoming even more unaffordable will not stop families already at risk of losing their home becoming homeless in the coming months,” the Dublin North West TD said, adding that the solution to the rental crisis is “real rent control measures which will set standard rates for size and location of accommodation. This will empower existing tenants to lower their rents through their right to review rent while forcing landlords to set fair rents on new leases.”