WHY RENTS ARE SO HIGH DESPITE STATE CONTROL

QMy daughter and her partner are being quoted what seems like an extortionate rent for an apartment. I also see a new apartment scheme in Dublin coming on the market at or near record rent levels for its area. I thought rent controls were meant to stop landlords charging so much?

AThe new legislation restricts annual increases to 4%. But this doesn’t affect new rental properties such as the development in Sandyford, Dublin to which you refer - The Maple - which quoted €2,570 a month for two-bed homes.

A recent survey by Daft.ie suggests that many - although by no means all - sitting tenants have seen no dramatic increase in rents, so rent controls appear to work for tenants in situ.

Yet Daft economist Ronan Lyons thinks they may make things worse for newbies or movers ‘by amplifying the insider-outside nature of the rented sector’.

In the latest Daft report, he wrote: ‘Sitting tenants now enjoy not only a discount relative to the market rent, but also protection of that lower rent into the future.

‘Meanwhile, movers in the private rented sector face not only far higher rents but almost no availability.’

Landlords aren’t supposed to increase rents for new tenants by more than 4%

compared to the previous occupants.

However, a possible flaw in the legislation is that it is up to tenants such as your daughter to police this.

The legislation says: ‘In the case of a new tenancy in a rent pressure zone, a landlord is required to furnish the tenant, in writing, with the following information at the commencement: (i) The amount of rent that was last set under

a tenancy for the dwelling; (ii) The date the rent was last set under a

tenancy for the dwelling; (iii) A statement as to how the rent set under the tenancy of the dwelling has been calculated having regard to the rent pressure zone formula.’

That’s all fine and dandy but as Mr Lyons points out: “In such a market (of scarce rentals), it would be a brave prospective tenant who would ask the landlord to see proof that the rent they would pay is only 4% higher than a year previously!

‘The message is the same as it has been for over five years now: more supply is needed. Until policymakers understand why it costs so much to build a twobedroom apartment here, compared to anywhere else in Europe, that’s unlikely to happen.’

QYou wrote previously that De Giro is the cheapest stockbroker for buying shares. I still have Vodafone shares as a result of my holding in Eircom. Are they also the cheapest stockbroker for selling them? What do I need to set up an account?

AYes, De Giro is extremely cheap for buying shares - and the same deal applies to selling them. It quotes €2.40 for €1,000 worth of Irish shares such as Bank of Ireland and €4.40 for the same quantity of UK shares in a company such as Vodafone. To open an account, you need to go online to www.degiro.ie with your bank account details (IBAN etc) ready.

QAWhat happens to an old book of 72c stamps I have at home now that letters cost a euro to post? An Post tells me that 72c stamps remain legal tender and are fully usable as postage, as do stamps of any value since the introduction of the euro (but stamps in old pence currency are no longer usable). Customers can make up the necessary postage for the item to be posted at their local post office counter.

Further to last week’s query on Ulster Bank tracker mortgages, the bank has furnished the following contact information for customers with queries about trackers: Freephone/Lo-Call from mobiles:1800 303 352 or +353 1 562 1269 if calling from abroad. Lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.