Secure occupancy, power and the landlord-tenant relation: a qualitative exploration of the Irish private rental sector

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.