A 42-year-old man renting an apartment in north Dublin has said recent speculation around the removal of Rent Pressure Zone rules has sent “anxiety levels through the roof” for renters.
Mark Finlay pays over €1,900 for his one-bedroom apartment in Belmayne, Dublin 13, and says the RPZ rules are the only reason he can afford to pay his rent.
He has been on the social housing list since 2002.
Mr Finlay works as a general operative for Dublin City Council and has a 12-year-old son who stays with him two nights a week.
While his rent has increased every year since he moved into his apartment, the removal of RPZ rules could push his rent into unaffordable levels, he believes.
“It would put me in a really precarious position – I don’t know where we could go ... If this happens, thousands of people will be made homeless,” he said.
A review of the current RPZ system, where rent increases are capped at 2 per cent per year in designated areas, is currently being carried out by the Housing Agency.
One of the alternative rent control options being considered is a “reference rent” system, where rent increases would be determined by a reference rent for local homes of a similar quality.
“Reference rent is not a system you can just bring in overnight, or even in six or 12 months. Who would deem the value of the property? Who would go around saying well that apartment is kind of similar to that apartment, and that’s why the rent is the same? There’s a lot of complications with it,” Mr Finlay said.
He says he has written to Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin and the new Minister for Housing James Browne to outline his concerns about proposals to remove RPZs.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the review of RPZs is happening because a more stable rent control system is needed to encourage more private investment in the housing sector.
However, Mr Finlay says this approach is “crazy”.
“The Rent Pressure Zones are not the reason why we have a housing crisis in the first place.”
He believes the RPZ rules are the reason why “a majority of people are able to afford their rent”.
From a personal perspective, he says he does not believe the Government understand the effects the mooted changes are having on renters.
“The anxiety level is through the roof, thinking if this might go through. It can bring you down, because you just don’t know what the next eight or nine months are going to look like.”
