I propose to take Questions Nos. 215, 216, 218 and 222 together.
The recently published Daft.ie Rental Report for Quarter 1 2015 reported that year-on-year inflation in rents continued to ease slightly in the first three months of 2015. It reported that rents nationally were 8.2% higher than in the first quarter of 2014, down from the 10.4% annual increase recorded in mid-2014. While the report recorded a slow-down in rent inflation in Dublin, this was offset by an increase in the surrounding counties.
These trends are broadly in line with the most recent data from the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) whose rent index is based on actual rents paid as opposed to the asking price. The PRTB data shows that in the fourth quarter of 2014, rents were 5.8% higher nationally than in the same quarter of 2013. Dublin, however, was seeing the highest rates of increase nationally with rents there higher by 9.6% over the same period, although the rate of annual increase was down slightly.
In terms of the number of persons currently living in private rental accommodation and dependent on rent support, there are approximately 69,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement. A further 20,000 approximately are on the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and just over 2,000 are now on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The rent supplement scheme, which is managed by the Department of Social Protection, provides support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The strategic focus for Rent Supplement over the short to medium term will be the on-going transfer of people from Rent Supplement to the new Housing Assistance Payment scheme (HAP). Rent Supplement will continue to be paid by the Department of Social Protection to households in the private rental sector who require a short-term income support to pay their rent, due to a temporary loss of income.
A shortage of supply is at the heart of rising rents and the Government is addressing this on a number of fronts. Construction 2020: A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector, published last year, is aimed at addressing issues in the property and construction sectors and ensuring that any bottlenecks that might impede the sector in meeting residential and non-residential demand are addressed. Construction 2020 also commits to identifying and implementing further improvements to the planning system to facilitate appropriate development.
Addressing the supply shortfall in housing will take time but in the period since the publication of Construction 2020, some welcome signs of recovery in the sector have become evident. Particularly notable in this regard is the increase in the number of house completions in 2014 to 11,016 units nationally – an increase of 33% on the 2013 figure. The latest figures for new house completions show that 2,629 units were completed in the first three months of 2015, up 26% on the corresponding figure for the first quarter 2014.
Social housing is a key priority for the Government, evidenced by the additional €2.2 billion in funding announced for social housing in Budget 2015 and the publication of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 in November 2014. The total targeted provision under the Social Housing Strategy 2020 of 110,000 social housing units includes the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units through Pillar 1.
On 1 April 2015, I announced provisional funding allocations totalling €1.5 billion for all local authorities, to meet an ambitious delivery target of 22,883 social housing units out to 2017. As part of this delivery, on 5th May I allocated €312 million across all local authorities for the first phase of their direct build programmes which will yield 1,700 social housing units by 2017. I expect to announce further approvals in the coming months. Full details, including specifics of the projects to be progressed, the funding allocated and the number of units to be delivered in each local authority are available on my Department's website at: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/.
A range of measures are being taken to secure a supply of accommodation for homeless households and to mobilise the necessary supports in order to deliver on the Government's target of ending involuntary long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. These measures have been identified in the Government's Implementation Plan on the
State's Response to Homelessness (May 2014) and in the Action Plan to Address Homelessness (December 2014). The plans and progress reports are available on my Department's website at the weblink below:
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople.
The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides that rents may not be greater than the open market rate and may only be reviewed upward or downward once a year unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation that warrants a review. Tenants must be given 28 days' notice of new rent and can make an application for dispute resolution to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) where they feel the rent increase is in excess of the market rent. These provisions have effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in a lease or tenancy agreement. It is the case, however, that a poll for the PRTB last year found that only 64% of tenants are aware of their rights under the 2004 Act. In response, the PRTB
has recently completed a tender process for an Education and Awareness advertising campaign for tenants and landlords in the Private Rented Sector. A key objective of the campaign is to make tenants and landlords aware of their rights and responsibilities. The campaign will formally launch shortly.
The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) report Ireland's Rental Sector: Pathways to Secure Occupancy and Affordable Supply, which was published last month, is a welcome and timely contribution to the debate around the rental sector. The report calls for more secure occupancy for tenants, including greater rent certainty as well as measures to increase the supply of rental housing. The recommendations put forward in this report will be considered carefully in the context of framing any measures in relation to the rental market. My overriding objective in relation to rents is to achieve stability and sustainability in the market for the benefit of tenants, landlords and society as a whole.
