Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2658. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government when there will be a review of the rent pressure zones with consideration of the inclusion of further parts of the country, including Limerick and Waterford cities; if the criteria for qualification as a rent pressure zone will be changed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33368/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 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).
Further information on Rent Pressure Zones and designations is available on my Department’s website at www.housing.gov.ie/PUBLICATIONS by searching ‘rent pressure zones – information’ in the "Housing Publications" section.
The Housing Agency will continue 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.
I have no plans to alter the criteria for designation of an area as a Rent Pressure Zone at this time.
