The Taoiseach has sought to play down media reports that the Government will allow landlords to reset rents between tenancies as part of a strategy to encourage private investment in housing at a time of short supply.
Micheál Martin said “no decision” has been made on the future approach to rent controls and that none will be taken until it sees a review on rent pressure zones (RPZs) being carried out by the Housing Agency.
He said he believed the review would be completed shortly and the report would be received by the Coalition in the coming weeks.
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“Government will consider that then and make informed decisions on it but up to now, no decisions have been made,” Mr Martin told reporters at the launch of a public consultation regarding the Cork City Luas project.
The Sunday Times reported that the Government was considering allowing landlords to reset rents between tenancies while also increasing the cap on rent increases in areas designated as RPZs.
Mr Martin said while nothing had yet been decided, the Government would be seeking to encourage private investment in housebuilding while also protecting renters from exorbitant increases.
“The Government is of the view that we have to create an environment that is stable, that facilitates a sustained investment from the private sector in our housing industry, that is absolutely critical, we need more private development,” he said.
“Of that there is no question and so the context, the prism through which we will examine that review will to be to create that stable framework over a long time whilst also crucially protecting renters.”
RPZs were introduced in Ireland in late 2016 to cap rent increases in areas where there is high demand for housing and for rental homes.
Where an area has been designated a RPZ, rent increases cannot be greater than the rate of inflation or 2 per cent, whichever is lower.
The measure was due to expire at the end of last year, but was extended for a further 12 months.
A Housing Commission report, published last July, was critical of RPZs and proposed changing them to a ‘reference rent’ system that pegs rent increases to nearby homes of a similar quality.
The report also noted an exodus of landlords from the market, with evidence suggesting the RPZs had acted as a constraint on supply in the private rental sector.
However, the Residential Tenancies Board said the number of private landlords increased by 5.7 per cent last year to 104,327.
