[Article] War against the bedsit has still to be won

Victor

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article4406680.ece

War against the bedsit has still to be won

There are still 8,000 in Ireland, including 5,000 in Dublin Kathy Foley

As soon as I met him I should have stuttered some excuse and hightailed it down the North Circular Road. But I didn’t. Desperation can drive a girl to do stupid things.

I’d been trying to find somewhere to live for weeks. I had scoured the classified ads, asked everyone I knew and paid IR£50 to an agency that promised to call me, but never did. That’s how I ended up outside a run-down, five-storey house, meeting a landlord about a bedsit. He was mean-faced, abrupt and had a vaguely predatory air. My instinct was to flee, but I needed somewhere to live. I followed him up four flights of stairs to the bedsit, gulping slightly when he locked the door behind us.

It was tiny – the size of a box room – and contained a single bed, a small table and chair, a decrepit old armchair and a badly-stained sink, which protruded over the end of the bed. The carpet was threadbare and filthy. The curtains were tatty and filthy. Everything was filthy. I stood very still, tried not to touch anything and swallowed hard.

“Well, whatcha think?” he leered at me. What I thought was that the odds of me becoming a headline in the Evening Herald had just shortened dramatically. I was young and bursting with hopes, dreams and ambitions, none of which included becoming ‘WOMAN, 21, STRANGLED IN BEDSIT’.

Fortunately, when I told Scrooge’s more unpleasant twin that I had a few other places to check out, he unlocked the door and stood aside. I scuttled out, fled down the stairs and hurried off. Once out of sight, I sat down heavily on a step and tried very hard not to cry.

Soon, I was lucky enough to move into a new apartment with friends. In the intervening decade, I’ve either been an owner-occupier or a tenant in pleasant accommodation with sympathetic, fair-minded landlords. Had I given it any consideration, I would have assumed the dramatic increase in new housing stock had put paid to bedsit culture.

I was wrong. Bedsits still abound. Perusal of a recent Evening Herald turned up a few classified ads for bedsits that seemed straight from the 1950s. One was in Ranelagh (“suit 1 gent”), another in Drumcondra (“suit 1 working man”) and another in Harold’s Cross (“suit 1 working gent”). According to Threshold, the not-for-profit organisation that advises on housing issues, there are still over 5,000 bedsits in Dublin and 3,000 more nationally. Not all of them are dingy hellholes, I’m sure, but I imagine a fair proportion look like the fleapit I saw 10 years ago.

There are even less salubrious digs available, if you care to look. One recent online listing featured accommodation that effectively consisted of a mattress in the space under a staircase.

At this end of the housing market, tenants often have poor literacy skills, poor English language skills or chronic health problems. According to Threshold, 35 per cent of those renting in the private rented sector have incomes below the poverty line and 21 per cent live in consistent poverty. As long as there are vulnerable tenants, there will be unscrupulous landlords willing to take advantage of them. In 2006, 30 per cent of the 6,800 rental properties inspected fell below minimum standards.

And those standards were not particularly rigorous. An open fireplace could be the only source of heating, for example. A constant supply of hot water was not a requirement, neither was a fridge, a cooker or a private bathroom. Not before time, the government has stepped in with a new set of regulations, designed to eliminate “Dickensian” conditions, as Michael Finneran, the minister of state for housing, has described them.

Under the proposed new regulations, which are currently open for public consultation, each unit of rental accommodation will have to have a self-contained bathroom, appliances, better heating and ventilation and adequate natural lighting. The days of the bedsit, it would seem, are numbered.

While this is marvellous news, regulations don’t mean much unless enforced. Of the 2,000-odd cases in 2006 in which properties fell below the old minimum standards, legal action was initiated in only 11 cases. A more heavy-handed approach will be needed if the new regulations are to be widely adopted.

And more reform is needed. Many landlords, for example, stipulate they will not accept tenants in receipt of rent allowance. It’s sneaky discrimination that can be justified on the grounds that the rent supplement is paid in arrears. Threshold would like to see that changed, but given this would involve a once-off cost to the exchequer of €30m to € 40m, it’s unlikely to happen soon.

The biggest cause of disputes in the rental sector is retention of deposits by landlords. Threshold has proposed the establishment of an independent rental deposits board to which tenants would lodge deposits rather than giving the money to landlords. Such a body would be self-financing from the interest accrued on the money it held. In the UK, similar deposit schemes were initially voluntary, but have become government-backed in recent years.

If the government is serious about reforming the rental sector, it has more work to do. Let’s hope it is up to the challenge. As Minister Finneran also said last week, “the mark of a humane society is how it protects its weaker members”.

jetski

interesting read,

Senna

just a thought, but what will happen to the 000's of people that are currently in bed sits. Will the landlord happily carry-out the work to bring them up to standard and of course, not raise the rent. Or will the landlords decide its too much hassle, evict the tenants and either put the house up for sale or convert it into bigger flats?
I'm guessing people in bed sits are there because of financial reasons and not the joys of living in a box.

Supercell

probably givien two choices :-

1) Rent stays the same as does the bedsit
2) Rent goes up to pay for the changes..

Sitting tenants are not going to be any better off from this, and in anycase its wont be monitored, this is a change in ink on a page and thats it.

SimpleSam06

I like the idea of the rental deposits group, thats quite clever. Can't see many of the local letting brigade allowing their precious deposits to fall into the wrong hands however (anyone's but theirs).

stovelid

One recent online listing featured accommodation that effectively consisted of a mattress in the space under a staircase.

!!!.

gurramok

stovelid wrote: »

One recent online listing featured accommodation that effectively consisted of a mattress in the space under a staircase.

!!!.

That author reads the Pin. I was the one who found that disgraceful 'bedsit'.

Pics here -> http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?t=11404

gurramok

Senna wrote: »

just a thought, but what will happen to the 000's of people that are currently in bed sits. Will the landlord happily carry-out the work to bring them up to standard and of course, not raise the rent. Or will the landlords decide its too much hassle, evict the tenants and either put the house up for sale or convert it into bigger flats?
I'm guessing people in bed sits are there because of financial reasons and not the joys of living in a box.

Conspiracy hat on here.

It could be the govts way of helping landlords who cannot rent in the current climate by moving 8000 people out into new accomodation while the old bedsits are being demolished/refurbished for habitation.
All assuming of course if the new regulations are policed and people can afford to pay the new higher rents for an apt than a bedsit.

Wonder will these regulations apply to 'studios' as well?

stovelid

gurramok wrote: »

That author reads the Pin. I was the one who found that disgraceful 'bedsit'.

Pics here -> http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?t=11404

Jesus. That's incredible.

johnnyskeleton

gurramok wrote: »

That author reads the Pin. I was the one who found that disgraceful 'bedsit'.

Pics here -> http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?t=11404

There was another one in Aston Quay a few months back for €250pm. It was snapped up.

Eurorunner

gurramok wrote:

That author reads the Pin. I was the one who found that disgraceful 'bedsit'.
Pics here -> http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?t=11404

Oh I dunno. You can grab the popcorn out of the microwave and lift a tinny out of the fridge without leaving the couch....sheer convenience

bobbysands81

Supercell wrote: »

Sitting tenants are not going to be any better off from this, and in anycase its wont be monitored, this is a change in ink on a page and thats it.

There are thousands and thousands of inspections carried out by Local Authorities on an annual basis. In fact some of their funding is now linked to the amount of inspections they carry out.

gurramok

bobbysands81 wrote: »

There are thousands and thousands of inspections carried out by Local Authorities on an annual basis. In fact some of their funding is now linked to the amount of inspections they carry out.

Thats great.

Do they do anything about them though? (RTE primetime exposed this part)

bobbysands81

gurramok wrote: »

Thats great.

Do they do anything about them though? (RTE primetime exposed this part)

That's where the new Regs will come in, they'll have much more power to take landlords to task and they'll have no choice but to bring their property(ies) up to the required standards.

RTE Primetime attacked Dublin City Council (if memory serves me correctly). Dublin City Council are probably one of the best Local Authority's at carrying out targetted inspections in the country.

Supercell

bobbysands81, i really would like to believe you that there will be inspection and enforcement, but I'll bet you that maybe 1 in a 1000 non compliant places will get enforcement and that will be in gaffs where the roof is about to fall in on the tenant, the rest , like non tax paying landlords will simply get away with it.

FF is the Builders and Landlords party, they've demonstrated this over and over again, there is a real lack of will to actually provide decent tenancy legislation and follow though in this country.
Look at the utter farce that is the PRTB, no doubt good people work there but are utterly utterly swamped by lack of funding. The ironic thing is that if the PRTB shared their database with the revenue (again and if there was a willingness to enfore current tax laws) then this could be a massive tax earner for the government..but thats not happening..and will never happen while our government is riddled with builders and landlords.

ura

Hi,

I've recently moved to a bedsit in Dun Laoghaire. To my surprise, rents are still very high, (over 600 euros) for bedsits in really bad conditions, and landlords are getting away with letting their property without modern amenities. They are not modern, the kitchen etc are in 1950s conditions, old and poorly insulated (specially the bloody Georgian building) with holes in the walls and spiders everywhere and off course no insulation as double glazing is non-existent. It's disgusting really. These places should not be allowed to be rented, inspectors should do their job and check every (especially old Georgian buildings which are falling apart) and people are paying way too much money to live in them, it's a crime in itself. Is it too much to ask to live in a DECENT-MODERN place without being ripped off?

Ura

bushy...

ura wrote: »

They are not modern, the kitchen etc are in 1950s conditions, old and poorly insulated (specially the bloody Georgian building) with holes in the walls and spiders everywhere and off course no insulation as double glazing is non-existent.

Small chance it could be a listed building now , you can't do certain things like rip out the original windows and put in plastic yokes

D3PO

ura wrote: »

Hi,

I've recently moved to a bedsit in Dun Laoghaire. To my surprise, rents are still very high, (over 600 euros) for bedsits in really bad conditions, and landlords are getting away with letting their property without modern amenities. They are not modern, the kitchen etc are in 1950s conditions, old and poorly insulated (specially the bloody Georgian building) with holes in the walls and spiders everywhere and off course no insulation as double glazing is non-existent. It's disgusting really. These places should not be allowed to be rented, inspectors should do their job and check every (especially old Georgian buildings which are falling apart) and people are paying way too much money to live in them, it's a crime in itself. Is it too much to ask to live in a DECENT-MODERN place without being ripped off?

Ura

seriously i have no sympathy for you. you chose to move in i mean for 600 a month you could get something decent so no excuse at all

oflahero

Here's a modern take on the bedsit:

www.daft.ie/2707343

It's a little bunker in an apartment complex, clearly designed for a live-in caretaker, but for whatever reason they're letting it out as a 'studio'. Asking 700, negotiate down to 600 and you'd be doing pretty alright as bedsits go. It looks clean and neat, if not particularly aesthetically pleasing, but compared to a fleabox on the North Circular you could do worse.

TaxiManMartin

ura wrote: »

Hi,

I've recently moved to a bedsit in Dun Laoghaire. To my surprise, rents are still very high, (over 600 euros) for bedsits in really bad conditions, and landlords are getting away with letting their property without modern amenities. They are not modern, the kitchen etc are in 1950s conditions, old and poorly insulated (specially the bloody Georgian building) with holes in the walls and spiders everywhere and off course no insulation as double glazing is non-existent. It's disgusting really. These places should not be allowed to be rented, inspectors should do their job and check every (especially old Georgian buildings which are falling apart) and people are paying way too much money to live in them, it's a crime in itself. Is it too much to ask to live in a DECENT-MODERN place without being ripped off?

Ura

If people didnt move into them then they would disappear eventually.