Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
317. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he intends to introduce new rental legislation in autumn 2022 that will address the anomaly that has left the southern part of the Carrigaline local electoral area outside of a rent pressure zone. [24702/22]
View answerThe Ballincollig-Carrigaline Local Electoral Area (LEA) was designated a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) on 27 January 2017 under section 24 of the Residential Tenancies Acts (2004-2021).
New Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts were signed into law on 31 January 2019 for Cork City and County (which took into account the expanded Cork City boundary) for the May 2019 local elections. The new LEAs and Municipal Districts see the old Ballincollig-Carrigaline LEA being split, with Ballincollig becoming part of Cork City Council. Carrigaline and its hinterland are now contained within its own LEA and Municipal District, which is wholly within the remit of Cork County Council.
The areas within the new Carrigaline LEA which were designated as a RPZ under the old Ballincollig- Carrigaline LEA remain designated as a RPZ under section 24A(6) of the Residential Tenancies Acts, which provides that “Where a local electoral area is prescribed by order as a rent pressure zone and, subsequently, any local electoral areas are duly amended in a manner that affects the area of the local electoral area so prescribed, then the order shall continue to have effect as if the local electoral area concerned had not been so amended.”
Therefore, under Section 24A(6), areas already designated as RPZs will remain designated and areas that are not designated nor due to become part of Cork City Council will retain their current undesignated status. Areas within the new Carrigaline LEA that were not previously designated as a RPZ remain undesignated. This is clearly in keeping with RPZ designation criteria and is not a loophole in the process.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 provides that any area falling within the new Cork City Council boundary, which was not already within a RPZ, became an RPZ from 31 May 2019.
At the moment, while rental inflation in the Carrigaline LEA has been above the Non-GDA Standardised Average Rent of €1,058.95, the LEA has been above 7% in only 2 of the last 6 quarters, thereby not satisfying the criteria for designation as an RPZ at this time. The Housing Agency and the RTB will continue to monitor this carefully and if the Carrigaline LEA meets the designation criteria it will be designated as an RPZ.
The Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 introduced measures in July 2021 to extend the operation of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) until the end of 2024. The designation of all existing RPZs has also been extended until 31 December 2024. The Act provides that rent reviews outside of RPZs can, until 2025, occur no more frequently than bi-annually. This provides rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a minimum 2 year period at a time.
I have no plans to amend the RPZ designation criteria under the Residential Tenancies Acts at this time. My Department and the RTB keep the operation of the Acts under constant review, with a view to introducing any necessary legal change.
