Alan Kelly’s advisers rushed rent certainty measures amid fears of landlords rising rents

Environment Minister Alan Kelly’s advisers rushed to get rent certainty measures agreed by the Cabinet days before the budget in the fear that landlords would hike up rates or evict tenants.

Documents obtained by the Irish Examiner also show a disagreement between Mr Kelly’s advisers and civil servants in the department’s housing section about rent control.

Department principal officer Damian Allen reminded Mr Kelly’s special adviser, Liam Cahill, the section had opposed rent controls last year. This followed a report on rent stability by consultants DKM.

Mr Allen wrote: “We sent up a detailed submission last October [2014] on foot of the rent stability report in which we recommended against ‘hard’ rent regulation and recommended acceptance of the options put forward as regards ‘soft’ rent stability measures.”

Mr Allen reminded Mr Cahill in a February 17 email that the housing section had agreed with DKM that the market here is “volatile” and “we need to be mindful of the adverse impacts that introducing rent regulation could have on supply”.

Notwithstanding the opposition, Mr Kelly and his advisers drove on with their plans for rent certainty. Mr Allen again wrote to Mr Cahill in May 21 outlining concerns. Rent regulation would “hurt” thousands of buy-to-let landlords with outstanding mortgages, officials thought.

New foreign investment would also be discouraged.

By October 6 this year — days before the budget — a separate special advisor to Mr Kelly insisted rent certainty measures needed to be fast-tracked. A record shows advisor Conan O’Broin said the bill on rent certainty, if agreed, would “need to be enacted within days in order to prevent landlords increasing rents and/or evicting tenants in anticipation of the measures”.

Ultimately, after the budget, rent certainty plans were dropped in favour of freezing rents for two years.