Rental market watchdog sees spike in landlords wrongly driving up rents

The country’s rental market watchdog has seen a spike in cases of landlords wrongly trying to drive through rent hikes in anticipation of capped rates rolling out in areas under new government measures.

Details from the Residential Tenancies Board were released as one Government TD warned that some tenants had months of “hell” to live through as they “lived in fear” of rent hikes being imposed.

Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd was questioning why areas in Louth, such as Drogheda and Dundalk, had not been included in recent rent pressure zones (RPZs) — despite rents there spiralling in recent months.