Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
524. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on whether rent in towns in west County Meath are too high; when rent caps will be imposed in these towns; and the reason it has not been done to date. [38427/18]
View answerSection 24A of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004, as amended, provides that the Housing Agency, in consultation with housing authorities, may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered as a Rent Pressure Zone. Following receipt of such a proposal, the Minister requests the Director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to conduct an assessment of the area to establish whether or not it meets the criteria for designation and to report to the Minister on whether the area should be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone. For the purpose of the Act, ‘area’ is defined as either the administrative area of a housing authority or a local electoral area within the meaning of section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001. There is no provision for any other type of area to be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone.
For an area to be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone, it must satisfy the following criteria set out in section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as inserted by section 36 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016):
(i) The annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and
(ii) The average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the average national rent (the National Standardised Rent in the RTB’s Rent Index Report) in the last quarter (€1,060 per month in Q1 2018).
The RTB Rent Index Report also includes a summary of the data used as the criteria for designating Rent Pressure Zones in relation to all Local Electoral Areas in the country. This allows everyone to see exactly where their area stands in relation to average rent levels and increases and possible designation.
Further information on Rent Pressure Zones and designations is available on my Department’s website at https://www.housing.gov.ie/PUBLICATIONS by searching ‘rent pressure zones – information’ in the "Housing Publications" section.
There are 6 local electoral areas in County Meath - Kells, Navan, Trim, Ratoath, Ashbourne, and Laytown-Bettystown. Three of these in the East of the County - Ratoath, Ashbourne and Laytown-Bettystown - were designated as Rent Pressure Zones in January 2017.
The data from the Rent Index Report for Q1 2018 relating to the 3 local electoral areas in County Meath which have not been designated as Rent Pressure Zones is detailed in the following table:
|
Local Electoral Area |
Quarters 7% |
Average 2018 Q1 (€) |
|
Kells |
2 |
794.35 |
|
Navan |
5 |
978.63 |
|
Trim |
4 |
989.83 |
In each of the three County Meath Electoral Areas which have not been designated as RPZs, the average monthly rent is below the national standardised rent of €1,060 per month. Therefore, none of these Local Electoral Areas meet the criteria for designation at present.
The Housing Agency continues to monitor the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation. Where, following the procedures set out in the Act, it is found at a future date that additional areas meet the criteria, they will be designated as Rent Pressure Zones.
