Supply of private rented tenancies must be protected given very strong demand, warns RTB

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has expressed concern over a large reduction in the number of registered private rented tenancies last year against a background of a shortage of housing.

New figures from the RTB show the number of tenancies registered by private landlords fell by almost 2% or just under 6,000 to 307,348 in 2018.

“This is a significant reduction given the extreme demand pressures in the market,” said the RTB.

There was an associated decrease in the number of registered landlords, which fell by 0.5% to 173,197 and in the number of occupants of rental properties which was down 2.7% to 695,142.

In its latest annual report, the RTB said vulnerable and low-income tenants were most affected by a lack of supply resulting from a growing population and inward migration.

“It is important that this contraction in the market is monitored and that existing supply is protected as demand is still very strong in the rental market,” said the RTB.

However, the decrease in private rented tenancies was partially offset by an increase of over 3,000 tenancies registered by approved housing bodies (AHBs).

The total number of overall tenancies, private and AHBs, decreased by 2,557 to 336,890 last year — an annual drop of 0.8%.

The RTB welcomed new powers under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 which it claimed would enable it to build on existing protections and allow it to move to more proactive regulation of the sector.

The legislation provides a range of measures including a requirement on landlords to provide additional details when claiming exemptions for ending a tenancy, extended notice periods, changes to rent pressure zone (RPZ) exemptions, new criteria for designating RPZs, and increased powers for the RTB to investigate and sanction breaches of legislation governing the rental sector.

“However regulation alone cannot be relied on to solve all the issues, existing supply must be protected and future investment encouraged,” said the RTB.

Research by the RTB showed the most common reasons for serving a notice to terminate a tenancy last year were rent arrears (37% of cases), landlord intending to sell the property (23%), and requiring the dwelling for use by the landlord or family member (10%).

Despite the falling number of registered tenancies, the number of disputes between landlords and tenants reported to the RTB increased by almost 10% last year.

A total of 6,398 applications for dispute resolution were received by the board in 2018, up 525 from the previous year.

RTB chairwoman Catriona Walsh said the rise was driven in part by better awareness of its dispute resolution service but also by pressures in the rental sector and the complexity of the regulatory framework in some areas.

Tenants accounted for almost 60% of all complaints. Over a quarter of all applicants opted to resolve their issue with the RTB’s free medi ation service. The most common complaints last year related to rent arrears, validity of termination notices, and deposit retention.

The RTB said 45% of all cases were withdrawn after parties had engaged with it.

The annual report shows over €2.2m was awarded in rent arrears in 2018 with an average award of €4,039 to landlords.