The coronavirus has been an unexpected shock to the Irish economy. Up to 513,000 people in the country signed up to avail of the first Covid-19 payment last week. The massive spike in unemployment has brought more focus on the already-embattled rental market. The collapse of the tourism industry has seen a rise in the number of available rental property in the Dublin city centre. Meanwhile, some have called for rent amnesty and a halt of evictions for tenants during this crisis.
Landlords have been open and flexible to helping tenants deal with this sudden financial jeopardy, according ro Shane O'Callaghan, managing director of Casey Kennedy auctioneers in Stillorgan. Casey Kennedy manage about 250 individual managed rental properties, mostly in the south Dublin area and Wicklow.
"We have a large managed portfolio, and I would say at this stage, approximately 30-40% of tenants have been in touch to say I've got a problem, I'm anxious, or I'm expecting a problem. My own experience is without fail every single landlord has helped and reacted to them in a positive manner. It's been a really positive thing."
O'Callaghan's company manages property on behalf of individual property owners as opposed to large property-holding companies.
"A lot of these landlords are people who relying on that income strictly to live," he says.
O'Callaghan says companies like his are asking tenants to provide proof that that they have been let go or had their wages reduced. Once tenants do this, O'Callaghan says the landlords he represents have been unilateral in their openness for helping tenants during this crisis.
"Suppose your rent is €1000 a month and your salary has been reduced by 20%. Then the rule of thumb is your rent should be €800. Other people have got more. Other landlords have rang me off the bat, without having their tenants even having a problem. There are some landlords that have waived rent all together.
"We're all in this together. That's the message that should be out there."
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