exodus of small investors from the Irish rental sector has reduced the number of available tenancies

Question is where will they end up. Anecdotal I know but a friend sold an apartment in Swords recently- there was 3 bidders comprised of one couple and two investment funds. The funds drove the price beyond their expectations and could easily outbid the couple. I was surprised myself that funds are buying individual units but I guess with their sweetheart tax deal the rental income is pure gravy for them whereas the tax situation for a small investor is crippling.

2 reasons, the value of the properties are at the peak of inflated prices so great time to sell. The other is its like the wild wild west in the rental market, desperately needs regulation.

The problem seems to be that any more regulation may push more small landlords to sell up which reduces the supply even more.

There's a lot of discussion about long term rentals and how many renters want that option. Is it not possible for the government to bring in some legislation that incentivises private landlords to provide 8/10/15/20 years fixed term tenancy contracts? If that's what renters want, why not encourage landlords to provide it instead of pushing them out which is what they are doing now.

It would seem to be a good option for landlords who buy investment properties, ie, they are assured of long-stay tenants which means they don't have regular turnover of tenants or months when their properties are empty. It seems it would be good for tenants to have certainity about where they live for a fixed number of years.

If it's not a long-term fixed lease then no incentives apply. It can't be beyond the imagination of the smart people in Revenue or Dept of Finance to come up with some scheme.

Yes guaranteed rent increases every year and rigid rules. The REITs are leaving properties empty instead of reducing the rents.

People wanted professional landlords and now we have them they are complaining about the professionals buying up properties and keeping prices high. Wait till they drive the last of the small landlords out and see how soon they start lobbying for more favorable laws for landlords.

There's a theory.

Behind the Investment Funds are the politicians. Most of the people will qualify for HAP. They own a lot of properties that can be kept unoccupied to keep the rents high because of the lack of supply. The rent is going up, the state is paying them indirectly the high rent through HAP. Small landlords can't afford to keep a place empty for too long, as mortgage needs to be paid. There's no competition from genuine buyers vs investment funds in buying properties.

Investments funds are the BIG winners.

Tax payers are the losers here.

What is this "everything" that shows this? It doesn't make any logical sense to me. A bigger landlord can run an apartment block and bulk-purchase things like paint, flooring, appliances, furniture etc. and then even have more of the same in reserve for when they need to be replaced. This also means their handyman only needs to know how to fix one type of each of these appliances too. Compared to a landlord with one or two apartments who has to do everything piecemeal, this is a much more efficient system.

I've rented in a big block from a major landlord and did find this to generally be true. If there was a problem with something, they'd have someone who was on call out quickly to fix it, no questions asked. If I needed something replaced (like my hob in one case) they're up and have it done the next day, it was clear they didn't even have to wait to order one in, and they didn't give any hassle about it because it's a pretty trivial expense at such a big scale. From the experience of both myself and other friends who rented off smaller landlords, you can get a sound one who will try to get the job done quickly, but you can just as easily get someone who will slouch and fight it, and either way they just aren't as quick.

I don't think that's always true. When I was renting previously from a big operator it was fairly expensive, but so were most things, and it wasn't luxurious. It was well kept enough and reasonably modern, but the fittings and finishings were not high-end. I don't know how everyone around was paying for their own rent but I never thought the place was dominated by council placements or HAP. If you take any given apartment or house for rent, I don't really see how it being operated by a small landlord instead of a big one really makes it any more suitable for the middle of the road tenant.

Up until very recently they were the only group providing rental accommodation. How much maintenance and repair do you think a house needs that you have to have a team waiting to do repairs?

Given that an industry provided a service for decades and the government then let large organisations in with less tax to destroy the indigenous suppliers would you object? That is what is going on here letting large international companies come in and take the money out of the country. Small landlords pay tax the big companies don't. It is like an invasion as they buy up property.

There is a huge imbalance on tenant and landlord rights which want the government to bring in more restrictions to make it only viable for large landlords so they can allow big companies deal with lack of state provided accommodation. Ultimately it means the Irish people will be fleeced. The big problem is the general public can't see it as you have illustrated it

As I said, I've called in for plenty of things to get fixed or replaced while I've been renting. It doesn't have to happen that often, the main thing is that when it does happen, it's done quickly and easily, and it has.

If an industry was providing a service and doing a less effective job at it, I'd be plenty happy to let in more competitors who could do it better. It's a free market, you should have to compete with others, and if they can do it better then they should. I don't believe in giving another provider brownie points because they got there first. If I did I'd never shop in Lidl or Aldi, or get my electricity from anyone but Electric Ireland.

I don't think taxes should be applied preferentially to anyone, because that distorts the market, but that's an issue with taxes, not with the landlords themselves.

The problem is the taxes. For a small landlord to cover a mortgage of €1,000 per month they need to charge nearly €2,000 as they are taxed at their marginal rate. A REIT doesn't pay tax yet it's still charging €2000 per month for apartments and they are willing to leave them empty. If you want competition and a free market you can't give massive advantages to one segment. Do you think the REITs would be buying up whole developments if they had to pay tax at ~50% on the rent?