Rent reform: Church commission calls for solidarity

A Church Commission said today that while rents for residential premises should reflect a fair percentage of the market value of the properties, the government should help tenants who would not be able to afford the increases.

The Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace in a reaction to the Rent Reform White Paper appealed for solidarity with persons who genuinely need support.

"The Commission, while regretting the injustice that has been made for a long number of years with landlords of property rented under the pre-1995 regulations, wishes to appeal for solidarity with persons who are genuinely in need of support," a Curia statement said.

"The Commission is of the opinion that there is the need to establish a fair rent which reflects a fair percentage of the market value of property, and that in cases of vulnerability, the rent differential should be subsidized by the Government."

The Commission said it noted with satisfaction that the Rent Reform Working Group established 1 June 2008 as the date by which beneficiaries would satisfy the eligibility criteria. Also, that the right to a causa mortis benefit is, in principle, a right available only once.

In its recommendations, the Commission called for the introduction of monetary and fiscal incentives to encourage landlords to place vacant property on the market for residential purposes.

It said the beneficiaries to a causa mortis inheritance of a lease of a sitting tenant and the spouse, should also include aged siblings, persons with a disability, persons with a serious health problem, and single parents.

There should not be a qualifying age for ascendants who lived with the tenant for a period of five consecutive years before the death of the tenant.

The Commission also argued that where there is no right of inheritance to the tenancy causa mortis, the sitting tenant should be allowed to reside for a period of not longer than five years from the date of death of the tenant.

It said the threshold of non-eligibility to the status of a beneficiary causa mortis, other than the wife or husband, should be revised from €125,000 (economic worth) and €25,000 (income) to €87,500 and €17,500 respectively.

The minimum rent effective 1 January 2009, unless agreed between the landlord and the tenant, should not be based on the 1960 inflation base line of €185 per annum. The rent should be established at the rate of 3% of the value of the property as declared by the landlord(s) in the most recent transmission causa mortis.

Commercial rents should not be based on turnover but should reflect the commercial rents offered in a free market .

The Church Commission recommended that, in general, the free market for the fixing of rents should apply to everybody, including premises rented out for political, cultural, social, sport, leisure and other activities.