Rent regulation ‘would hurt those it intends to help’

A report on rent stability in the private sector has warned that the introduction of rent regulations in Ireland would reduce supply in the market, increase black market activity, and have a negative impact on the very people the measures would attempt to assist.

The warning comes in one of two reports prepared by DKM Economic Consultants for the Government’s Housing Agency on behalf of the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

The first report analysed six rent-regulation options with a view to addressing the recent escalation in rents. While the options examined included pegging changes in rent costs to the consumer price index, the report’s authors say that none of the options generate a better outcome for tenants compared with the unregulated free market.