A suggestion in the Housing Commission’s report that supported the implementation of a “reference rents” system is being examined by the government, reports RTE.
This would imply that restrictions on the amount a landlord might charge would depend on variables like the property’s size and location.
These reference rents are expected to be one of many choices that will be presented to ministers in an options paper.
It is impossible to exclude out an extension of the rent pressure zones, according to government sources, reports RTE.
The Central Statistics Office released house completion data this month that showed a 24% decline in flat completion in 2024, which worries the Coalition.
Many investors are represented by Irish Institutional Property, which stated today that the current rent control regime has deterred fresh funding from entering the market, reports RTE.
According to its CEO, Pat Farrell, it has caused a “significant drop off” in flat construction.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin refuted claims that the government will abolish rent pressure zones at a speech in Brussels today, reports RTE.
Mr. Martin stated yesterday that the rent pressure zone system, which is set to expire at the end of the year, will be examined by the government.
Mr Martin said: “We never used the phrase ‘end’ or ‘abolition’, by the way, or ‘scrap’ for that matter What we did say we would examine the Housing Commission report and the section on the rental market, which talks about examining an evidence-based approach to reforming the rental market. Particularly, it instanced a reference-pricing mechanism, but said that that must be informed by an evidence based approach and the degree to which there was a relationship between the rental market and supply,” reports RTE.
In the 26 months preceding December 2023, 42% of landlords departed the market, according to a July Housing Commission data.
“We do need to bring more private sector investment into house building,” Mr Martin said, adding that the government will conduct the examination. We’ll keep tenants safe, reports RTE.
“We brought in the rent credit specifically to do that, and the rent pressure zones have been effective in quite a number of areas.”
According to him, a stable climate that did not fluctuate from year to year was the most important factor for investment.
According to him, investors in the rental market and building industry want some level of assurance, reports RTE.
Foreign direct investment into Ireland was no exception.
Reference rents are “much better and more sophisticated” than rent pressure zones, according to Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin’s Housing Spokesperson.
He stated that reference rents “are part of Sinn Fein’s proposal” and that the party “would have an element of reference rents for the setting of rents for new tenancies” when speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, reports RTE.
However, Mr Ó Broin said: “It is not at all clear what the Government is proposing. I suspect Micheál Martin has no idea what he’s proposing. Obviously we’ll engage with them and we’ll set out what we think is correct,” reports RTE.
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