New measures linking rent hikes to inflation are too late, says Sinn Féin

The Residential Tenancies Board will establish and maintain a new rent pressure zone calculator and will have the power to sanction any landlord who increases rents beyond the set-out rates.

The Government has been accused of "acting after the horse has bolted" as new measures link rent hikes to inflation.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has announced that the current 4% cap on rent increases will be axed and any hikes must now be linked to inflation instead.

All of the current Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ), which are subject to these caps, will be extended to the end of 2024.

Mr O'Brien said this will result in far lower rent increases for the estimated 74% of all tenancies which are in RPZs as general inflation as recorded in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) averaged 0.73% over the past three years.

“I have always acknowledged that for some, the 4% cap on rent increases in RPZs became a target rather than a limit. 

"We are now taking action to ensure that tenants will only pay rent increases, if required to, which are in line with general inflation, which is currently below 2%," Mr O'Brien said.

For those outside of RPZs, the provision for bi-annual rent reviews will be extended for an additional three years up to the end of 2024. 

This will also provide rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a minimum two year period at a time.

However, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the problem is now too acute to be solved through simply linking rents to inflation and greater action is required.

"It will be a good idea in the future when our rental market has stabilised, but what we urgently need now is a ban on increases," said Mr Ó Broin.

"We tabled this very legislation on five separate occasions in the last Dáil. The very first bill that I introduced was to link rents to inflation, but Fine Gael voted it down. If they had voted for that legislation back in 2016, we wouldn't have had the spiraling rents that we have today.

Signs advertising office space and apartments for rent in Dublin's north inner city. 

For the minister to introduce inflation index-linking at this point is really kind of acting after the horse has bolted, what we actually need is a three-year ban on rent increases, because people just can't pay any extra, whether it's 4%, 2% or 1%.

Mr Ó Broin said his party will be using its Dáil time next week to push forward with a bill to ban rent increases.

However, the minister said the link up with the HICP will respect the constitutionally protected property rights of landlords and aims to safeguard continued investment in the sector by existing and new landlords to deliver the requisite supply of high-quality rental accommodation.

The Residential Tenancies Board will establish and maintain a new RPZ calculator and will have the power to sanction any landlord who increases rents beyond the set-out rates.