Some of the country’s biggest homebuilders have moved to distance themselves from the prospect of legal action being taken against the Government over proposed reforms of the rental sector.
It follows a series of letters last month that criticised the measures, due to come into effect next month, as unconstitutional and held out the prospect of a court challenge to them.
The legislation will have an impact on how and when rents can be increased, a tenant’s security of tenure and how tenancies can be brought to an end.
October Investments, a company led by developer David Daly, first wrote to the Department of Housing early in January, outlining concerns that the reforms “represent an unlawful and ostensible interference with constitutional property rights”.
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The department was told that the letter was supported by other builders – namely Marlet Homes, Seán Mulryan’s Ballymore, Cairn Homes and Carroll Estates.
In a second letter sent later in the month, Daly held out the prospect of taking legal action should Minister for Housing James Browne fail to engage with them prior to the legislation being introduced on March 1st. It stated that if Browne refused to engage “it follows that we expressly reserve all of our rights”.
However, Daly, as well as others from the group, have sought to downplay the prospect of any legal action following the exchange.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Daly said he had never committed himself to a constitutional challenge and argued that the suggestion was made on legal advice.
“I certainly will not be bringing [a legal case], I don’t think we’re going to win it and it would be extremely costly,” he said.
He said that having considered the matter further, “it was never on”. He said “people make all sorts of different suggestions to you. That was one, that there could be a possibility in the proposed legislation that there could be a constitutional challenge”.
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However, Daly said he remained concerned about the impact the reforms could have.
“Saying we reserve our position does not amount to a legal challenge,” he added.
Cairn Homes, the publicly listed homebuilder, distanced itself from the exchange, saying it has asked that October Investments “cease purporting to represent Cairn in relation to policy matters”.
“October Investments does not speak for Cairn,” the company said, adding that it does not support a legal challenge to the reforms and is “supportive of the Government’s proposed legislation in relation to the rental sector”.
“In relation to letters that were sent to political stakeholders by October Investments, referencing support from Cairn, we did not have sight of these letters in advance of their being sent, nor any input into their contents. We do not support the content of these letters.”
Daly said the letters were circulated “to everyone involved” and that no correspondence has been received by October Investments from any other party since they were submitted.
In a statement issued through a spokesman, Mulryan said he and Ballymore “do not think it is useful to approach these matters with a threat of legal action in the air and we have no intention of taking any legal action”.
“Ballymore does have concerns about some of the proposed reforms of the rental sector. We would value the opportunity for dialogue to explore how government might achieve its policy objectives while mitigating some of the issues we have identified.”
Marlet and Carroll Estates did not respond to requests for comment.
