Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 November 2018
276. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views and plans to reduce further increases in rents to attract workers to come here in view of a recent ESRI report that said Ireland will need more construction workers to increase housing supply but rental costs will hamper efforts to attract them here particularly in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49640/18]
View answerAffordability remains a significant issue in the rental market. Continued economic and population growth coupled with inward migration and a constrained supply of housing contribute to upward pressures on rents.
Initiatives introduced by the Government, including streamlined fast-track planning of large housing developments through An Bord Pleanála, more flexible planning guidelines that are targeted at making apartments more cost effective as well as increased Exchequer funding for enabling infrastructure to open up key sites for early development, will all help to boost supply of new homes, including rental properties, to meet both pent-up and emerging demand.
In addition, the Government has prioritised a range of further actions to ensure that existing rent predictability measures, such as the Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) and increased security of tenure, are fully enforced. In that context, the Government has approved the General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2018 to give legislative underpinning to a number of specific actions outlined in the Government’s Rental Strategy and to enhance the powers of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to protect both tenants and landlords in the residential rental sector, particularly with regard to enforcement of the annual rent increase limit in RPZs. The Bill's provisions are intended to strengthen further the effectiveness of the rent setting and rent review laws by empowering the RTB to investigate any contravention of the law relating to rent increase limits (4% per annum) in RPZs and to take enforcement action, if necessary. The provisions involved include power for the imposition of sanctions on landlords in breach of the legal requirements and power for the RTB to investigate without the need for a complaint to be made. My Department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in the drafting of the Bill and I hope to bring it to Government for approval to publish in the coming weeks.
My Department is also working with the RTB to appropriately resource and develop its capacity to implement these provisions. The proposed new powers for the RTB are a crucial first step in expanding its overall role and function as part of a multi-annual change management programme to proactively enforce tenancy law. The RTB publishes its quarterly Rent Index and advises my Department on the residential rental market on a continuous basis which informs policy development in this area.
