TD critical of government planning for private rental sector

A Sligo MEP has blasted the government for having no plan for a private rental sector spiralling out of control.

Sinn Féin’s Chris McManus’ comments came as the Residential Tenancies Board (RTG) published their fourth quarter (Q4) Rent Report that showed new rents up by nine per cent and existing rents up by six per cent in 2023.

The RTB report also shows a 31 per cent drop in new tenancy registrations in the last quarter of last year compared to Q4 2022.

McManus said: “The latest RTB rent report shows a private rental sector continuing to spiral out of control.

“New rents jumped nine per cent last year and existing rents jumped by six per cent.

“There was also a significant dropoff in new tenancy registrations, down 31 per cent on the same period the previous year.

“For renters, this means rents continue to spiral out of control while supply continues to contract.

“Average new rents outside Dublin, new rents now cost on average €19,000 and existing rents €16,488. In Dublin itself, they are now €25,000 a year and existing rents are €21,600 a year in the capital.

“How are regular working people expected to afford these rents? How are they to save for a deposit to buy a home?

“Month on month, year on year, rents continue to rise for new and existing tenants, inside and outside rent pressure zones.

“There is also mounting evidence of significant non-compliance with the annual two per cent cap in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ).

“While the RTB report doesn’t address the scale of compliance it does give them the data to investigate and enforce.

“It is clear that the government has no plan for a private rental sector spiralling out of control.

“Their renters tax credit is simply not enough.

“We need an emergency ban on rent increases for three years and a full month’s rent back in every private renter’s pocket.

“But, more importantly, we need the government to dramatically increase investment in and delivery of genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy.

“Last year just 100,000 affordable homes were delivered by the government and many of these were too expensive for most working people.”

Speaking on the publication of the report, Deputy Director of the RTB, Lucia Crimin said: “The report provides robust insights into the private rental sector by tracking rental price developments in new and existing tenancies.

“The data for the fourth quarter of 2023 broadly shows a continuation of the trends observed in recent quarters.

“Although, rent levels are continuing to rise in both new and existing tenancies, standardised average rent levels in existing tenancies remain significantly lower than in new tenancies and, nationally, the standardised average rent for new tenancies remained virtually unchanged from the previous quarter.

“While the ability to measure the changes in rental prices for ongoing tenancies is a significant step forward, the rent index does not provide insights into rental prices in individual properties or measure compliance with RPZs.

“However, a core function of the RTB is to ensure compliance with rental law and the RTB takes extremely seriously any potential non-compliance with rental law.

“Therefore, we have recently commenced analysis on the registration dataset to understand how rent amounts change over time in individual properties both inside and outside RPZs.

“We expect that by the end of this year, through this process, we will enhance our ability to identify potential non-compliance with rental law – in particular the requirements to register tenancies and to set rent in compliance with RPZ rules.”