Tánaiste Simon Harris has backed the Government’s plan to “swiftly” roll out rent controls across the entire country, reports Breaking News.
This follows his statement in the Dáil that emergency legislation would be introduced next week to apply rent caps to the remaining 20% of tenancies that are not already part of a rent pressure zone (RPZ).
On Tuesday, the Department of Housing confirmed that RPZs would transition to a “nationwide rent control system” under draft legislation set to be introduced “in the coming weeks,” reports Breaking News.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he anticipated that the legislation for rent controls nationwide would be approved before the Dáil’s summer break in July.
“The first part will be extending it nationally and that should happen very quickly, because it’s a short Bill,” Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Thursday, reports Breaking News.
Simon Harris said he had been aware “for quite a number of days” that the plan was to extend RPZs across the country before the summer.
“Yes, it was. Certainly, it was my understanding for quite a number of days, because it’s very important we move swiftly in relation to this,” he said, reports Breaking News.
When asked why the legislation wasn’t ready during Tuesday’s major rent policy announcement, Mr Harris explained that it involved “a huge body of work.”
Rent pressure zones (RPZs) apply to high-demand areas and currently limit rent increases to 2 per cent annually, reports Breaking News.
The RPZ framework, which was originally due to expire at the end of this year, will now be effectively expanded nationwide starting in March, placing all existing tenancies in Ireland under either the 2 per cent cap or inflation, whichever is lower.
For newly constructed apartment buildings, rent increases will be limited by inflation rather than the 2 per cent cap, as part of efforts to encourage more housing development, reports Breaking News.
From March 1st, 2026, new minimum rolling tenancies of six years will be introduced for the first time.
After the six-year period ends, landlords will be able to “reset” the rent to market rates, with the initial rent resets taking place in 2032 under the new rules.
Landlords with four or more properties—classified as large landlords—will be prohibited from issuing no-fault evictions for any tenancies that begin on or after March 1st, 2026, reports Breaking News.
“There’s a large piece of legislative work that needs to be done around the broader package that the Minister for Housing (James Browne) has brought to Government and received approval for,” Mr Harris said, speaking in Co Down on Friday, reports Breaking News.
“But there’s also a need to move in the here and now to do two things: firstly, to make sure that there’s clarity that the rent pressure zones will extend because, as you know, they’re currently due to expire at the end of December. But, secondly, to extend them to the counties where we’ve indicated we wish to extend them to,” reports Breaking News.
He confirmed that 11 counties in Ireland are set to gain from the RPZ expansion.
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