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A NUMBER OF politicians have criticised rent control laws following a new report outlining that rents in every county in Ireland rose by 11.3% in the year to September.
The latest Daft.ie quarterly report found that the average monthly rent nationwide is €1,334, which is €304 higher per month than at the Celtic Tiger peak.
In Dublin, rents are now 36% higher than their previous peak a decade ago, with people now paying €520 more to rent in the capital.
Meanwhile, in Limerick city rents were 20.3% higher than a year ago and 19.7% higher in Waterford. Galway saw a somewhat smaller increase of 16.1%, while in Cork, rents rose by 13.7% in the same period. Outside the five main cities, rents rose by an average of 10.6%.
The lowest average rents were found in Leitrim (€577) and Donegal (€628).
In light of the reports of continued increased rents across the country, politicians and housing experts have today come out to criticise Ireland’s current rent control laws.
Rent Pressure Zones
Rent Pressure Zone (RPZs) laws were first introduced in December 2016 by then-Housing Minister Simon Coveney to tackle spiralling rents.
Under the legislation, annual rent rises were capped at 4% in certain areas.
RPZs are located in areas of the country where rents are highest and where households have the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation.
There are currently five Local Authority areas and 16 Local Electoral Areas which have been designated as Rent Pressure Zones. These can be found here.
Criticism
The laws surrounding RPZs have come in for criticism today as a result of the new rental data.
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD said that the 11.3% annual rise in rent prices across the State demonstrates that RPZs are failing to protect new entrants to the market.
It must be noted at this point that, under the current laws, a landlord can evict a tenant and raise the rent above the limits if substantial refurbishment is carried out on the property.
Properties within RPZs are also exempt from the 4% restriction if they have not been let at any time in the previous two years.
TheJournal.ie has previously reported that there have been multiple warnings and anecdotal reports that landlords are using this clause to evict tenants, carry out minor refurbishments and then charging new tenants significantly higher rents.
“Rent Pressure Zones are clearly not working for new entrants to the rental market or people who have to move,” Ó Broin said.
The Rent Pressure Zone legislation is failing new entrants to the rental market. Asking for new lets are very clearly circumventing the 4% cap and this is adding to the housing affordability crisis.
Ó Broin called for an immediate three-year rent freeze to be introduced, alongside tax reliefs for tenants, as he said “the time for a measured response to this crisis has long passed”.
Echoing the words of Ó Broin, Labour’s housing spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan TD said that RPZs are “clearly not working”.
“Quite simply, RPZs are not working and must be scrapped. What we need instead is a nationwide control on rents that links them to the cost of living as Labour proposed in a Bill that was voted down by the government more than two years ago,” O’Sullivan said.
“I would now go further, because the situation is so desperate for so many people, and impose a freeze on increases until there is some stability in the market, particularly in our cities.”
Similarly, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy has also said that an emergency rent freeze is the only way to address the rising rent issue.
“There is no way that ordinary workers, people with families and young people, can continue to pay rents at these astronomical levels,” Murphy said.
Government response
In April, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy announced proposed new measures that would form part of the new Residential Tenancies Bill.
Among these is a planned law making it an offence for landlords with properties in RPZs to raise the rent above the legally allowed 4%.
“What we’re bringing now is a sanctions regime making it a criminal offence, that we’ll follow with a number of measures that will be allowed to be implemented by the RTB (Residential Tenancies Board) including fines,” Murphy told reporters.
At the time, Murphy said that the fine being considered would be in the region of €15,000.
Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.
With reporting by Cormac Fitzgerald and Adam Daly
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Hailo’s message to Uber:……….. Fc*k Off we don’t wan’t competition.
Hailo are supposed to be in trouble over spending and no investment so uber def spells trouble for them
The journal will literally use any opportunity to mention the gay marriage referendum. Move on.
Gay people can get married now? Gosh, that must annoy certain types of people.
I had not noticed the passing reference to the free taxi service to the polling booths for the same sex marriage equality referendum until you drew it to my attention, RoN.
Clearly you would have preferred RoN to have had the service restricted to the opponents of same sex civil marriage.
Thank you for highlighting the Marriage Equality Referendum passed by more than 68% of those who voted.
This topic deserves another separate article so that RoN can get his full rant on.
When will companies and businesses in all industries cop on that they are not in any way simply entitled to your business? If they are out flanked by someone with an innovative idea, the onus is on them to either catch up or offer more appealing innovative ideas of their own.
In theory yes but it seems that the playing field isn’t level. Essentially they are both providing the same service but uber drivers are not vetted or regulated in any way and their costs are lower, for example insurance. Also, I don’t think uber drivers are taxed.
Harry Potters real?
No, just a fictional character who looks a bit like you.
Taxi service in Atlanta is dreadful, everyone i know uses uber and they rave about its convenience, low cost etc. I personally have only used it once and it was bang on, great idea, well executed.
Uber is incredible
Ireland is not Atlanta.
We dont need Uber destroying the jobs of licensed,regulated taxi drivers.
The industry is overcrowded as it is.
They are a scourge on the face of the earth.
The authorities have a responsibility to control this form of unbridled capitalism.
Can we all do part time work as civil servants/teachers/Gardai etc. and put them out of work.?
Not likely.
I hope that Uber is launched in its full form in Ireland, allowing those with a suitable car and a clean criminal background check to apply.
I used ubers multiple times in San Diego this summer and the system works brilliantly and is very cost effective too
No Hailo app for windowsphone…but there is an Uber app, so hailo for f**k off
In the U.S. UBER HAS STARTED DOING LOGISTICS NOW, will Hailo start doing the Ambulance service now???
we only have 12 ambulances in Dublin and these are fully stretched at this time of year… if you need to get to a hospital and a DFB ambulance will be another hour, why not get help?
I can see it happening with the TiSA Agreement privatised hospitals and ambulances, Uber is involved with logistics now. So god knows what the future will bring thanks to TTIP and the Trade in Services Agreement.
Many things are run down in order to change them and the excuse is cost but getting private firms to run things always costs more as the NHS model has shown and the same is starting to happen here now…
Help is one thing but cost will be another???
Given the wages of ambulance drivers, I am sure the government would love it.!
have your say