Rising rents and rental pressure zones
Deputy O'Reilly highlighted sharp rent increases, especially in north County Dublin, and said affordability is worsening for renters. The Minister said the RTB data also shows rents rising and is the preferred evidence base.
The recent daft.ie rental price report for the first quarter of 2018 shows us that rents across the State have risen by 11.5% over recent months. In north County Dublin they have risen by even more. The increase there is 11.9% which gives us an average monthly rent of €1,761. Rents across the board are now 23% higher than their peak in 2008. The Minister does not need me to tell him that rents are badly out of control and are creating severe affordability issues for those who are trying to access the private rental market. This issue cannot be left unresolved. Will the Minister accept that his rent pressure zone legislation is the latest policy failure from this Government and is not doing what it was supposed to do? Will he introduce real rent certainty by linking rents to an index such as the consumer price index as part of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2018?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for the question. She asked it earlier in the week and I addressed it then but, to repeat what I said at the time, what the daft.ie report tells us is what we already know, that is, that rents are increasing. However we in Government actually rely on the reporting of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, because it relies on a greater data set which is based on rents agreed rather than rents sought. In its report from the fourth quarter of last year we saw that the increase in rents in areas where the rent pressure zones, RPZs, have been in place, which are in Dublin, was down to just above 3% between 2017 and 2016. Therefore, the rent pressure zones are working in those areas. There is more we can do to strengthen the Residential Tenancies Board. That is why legislation to strengthen the RTB is coming, and coming quite quickly, to the Dáil, to be passed with the agreement of the Oireachtas as quickly as possible. A review of the rent pressure zones has also been conducted. It has been completed and I hope to share it with the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government ahead of meeting with it on Thursday of next week.