Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2024
1568. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the rising cost of student campus accommodation in a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13309/24]
View answerMy Department has been made aware of the rent increases by the aforementioned privately owned and operated accommodation facility.
The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022, to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. Registered landlords and all tenants can apply to the RTB for dispute resolution.
Student specific accommodation is within the remit of the RTB. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 provides for relevant rights and obligations that apply to tenancy and licence agreements in student-specific accommodation, provided by public educational institutions and private accommodation providers.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 legally tightened the exemptions from rent controls in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs). The rent controls operate within and across tenancies. Since 2019, an exemption applies to the first rent setting only in respect of a tenancy of a dwelling where:
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling during the two years immediately prior to this current tenancy beginning;
• no tenancy existed in respect of the dwelling where the dwelling is a protected structure, or is in a protected structure or is a proposed protected structure during the 12 months immediately prior to the current tenancy beginning (a protected structure is defined in the Planning and Development Act 2000); or
• there has been a substantial change in the nature of rental accommodation.
The 2019 Act also provides a legal definition of ‘substantial change in the nature of rental accommodation’ to illustrate the type of works to be carried out to a rental property to qualify for a once-off exemption from RPZ rent controls in respect of the first rent setting after such works.
Such works shall result in:
• a permanent extension increasing the floor area by 25%;
• an improvement in the Building Energy Rating (BER) by at least 7 ratings; or
• at least 3 of the following:
a permanent alteration of the internal layout;
adaptations for a person with a disability;
a permanent increase in the number of rooms;
an improvement in the BER by 3 or more ratings where the original BER was D1 or lower; or
an improvement in the BER by 2 or more ratings where the original BER was C3 or higher.
Landlords must inform the RTB that they are relying on an exemption to the RPZ rent caps within one month of the setting of the new rent under the tenancy.
Part 7A of the Residential Tenancies Acts empowers the RTB to investigate improper conduct by landlords and to impose sanctions, if warranted. Significantly, the investigation can be initiated by the RTB without a complaint having to be made. The RTB's Investigations and Sanctions Unit can start an investigation either as a result of information received from members of the public or on foot of information gathered from records that the RTB has access to under the Residential Tenancies Acts. That unit investigates certain potential breaches of rental law by a landlord referred to as ‘improper conduct’ under Schedule 2 to the Acts, including the contravention of the rent increase restrictions in RPZs and exemptions thereto and the seeking of payments in contravention of section 19B of the Acts.
If a landlord is found to have engaged in improper conduct, an independent RTB decision maker may impose a sanction comprising one or all of the following: a written caution; a financial penalty of up to €15,000; and up to €15,000 in RTB investigation costs.
I have no functional role in the operational matters of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) which is an independent quasi-judicial body, however it is open to a member of the public or tenant to raise a case with the RTB.
