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Abstract
Ireland has recently seen a wide-ranging attempt to reform its growing private rental sector. New legislation has strengthened security of tenure and regulated rents. However, these measures have been largely ineffective due to high levels of non-compliance on the part of landlords, which is in turn enabled by the absence of security for tenants. This article examines the interaction of security, tenants’ agency and the landlord-tenant power relationship. It presents data from in-depth qualitative research with tenants to analyse the multi-dimensional ways in which security is undermined for tenants, disempowering them and facilitating a culture of non-compliance among landlords. The article draws on the concept of ‘secure occupancy’ to capture the construction of insecurity across the domains of legislation, markets and culture, and argues that insecurity and the power asymmetry between landlord and tenant are deeply intertwined.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 See below for further discussion of methodology.
2 Threshold is Ireland’s largest housing charity supporting tenants in the private rental sector.
3 Eleven of these were conducted via telephone while the remainder were face-to-face.
4 Threshold was not the project funder, It was the project partner under the terms of the Irish Research Council New Foundations funding scheme, which supports collaboration between academics and civil society organisations.
5 This was primarily the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). Under this supplement, tenants contribute 15% of their income to rent payment and the remainder is subsidized by central government. The subsidy is paid directly to the landlord and managed by local authorities
6 Almost all dwellings are let furnished in Ireland.