Infrastructure Minister and Progressive Party Chair Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson yesterday submitted a bill aimed at improving housing security and the legal status of tenants. Vísir reports on Gunnar Smári Egilsson, the founder of the Icelandic Socialist Party. He seems to have little confidence in the bill.
Sigurður’s opinion seems to be that one of the most important issues affecting the rental market was the inability to monitor rental contract and rental price trends.
Sigurður said: “If Congress approves the bill, there will be changes because the landlord is obliged to register the contract in the public housing database, which will give us a more realistic picture of the rental market and improve the legal status of our tenants. increase.”
He believes that registration obligations benefit the general public by making the rental market more transparent and providing information about the housing market on a site-by-location basis.
Sigurður adds: “Information on rental prices helps to assess whether the rental amount or its increase is fair and reasonable for both parties. According to current law, the rent of an equivalent home is fair and reasonable. The main criterion to consider when assessing the target is the lack of parties to the rental contract that have reliable information in the market. You can pay the rent at any time. “
Gunnar Smári, on his side, has doubts about the bill. “His contribution to inequality was to create a website for tax return-based information. Currently, we are responding to rental market emergencies by forcing tenants to register for rent. Will the status of the tenant improve? No. “
In Gunner’s opinion, this represents an obsession that market failure is not due to monopoly and oligopoly, or the superiority of sellers and landlords, but rather the problem is due to lack of information.
Gunner believes that government actions are hostile to the poorest people in our society and do not listen to the minister. To this effect, he adds: “It’s clear that there is an emergency in the housing market and things will get worse rapidly in the coming weeks and months. The government will meet this with a bill on forced registration of leases. God helps residents. “
