I have 'effectively' frozen rents, claims housing minister
Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has claimed he has 'effectively' frozen rents across the country. File picture
Housing minister Darragh O'Brien has claimed he has "effectively" frozen rents across the country.
Darragh O'Brien made the claim following a Land Development Agency (LDA) survey that found a third of renters are paying unaffordable rents.
The survey revealed that 32% of renters pay more than one-third of their income in rent, rising to 38% for the Dublin area.
It has also been revealed that the Residential Tenancies Board's rent calculator shows rents have now risen by 4.3%, higher than the previous rent pressure zones caps of 4%.
Mr O'Brien linked the rise in rents to inflation when he scrapped those zones, but with inflation now outstripping the previous 4% limit, he has promised to put caps on rises of "considerably less" than 3%.
He said linking rent rises to inflation was the right thing to do, but that further measures were now needed.
"Fundamentally linking rents to inflation is the right thing to do, and we did that in July, supported by all parties," he said.
"We've seen a very short-term increase in inflation, a spike in inflation, so I'm going to address that.
"I'd expect to have that in the House in November and get it passed before the end of the year. So we're looking at substantially lower than 3%."
Asked if this was tantamount to a rent freeze, as called for by the Opposition, Mr O'Brien said it was "effectively" the case.
"That's what we've effectively done since July, is frozen the value of rents and linked them to inflation," he said.
"I said then that we would need to come back at it, and I'm going to do that in the coming weeks, along with bringing legislation forward on tenancies of indefinite duration, a programme for government commitment, which has been promised for years and has never been done.
"Effectively what I'm doing, and what I have done, is frozen the value of rents."
Mr O'Brien made the comments as he was launching 56 new cost-rental homes from Clúid Housing in the Barnhall Meadows development in Leixlip, Co Kildare.
The homes will cost €900 per month for a two-bedroom unit and €1,250 for a three-bed. Applications are open through Kildare County Council.
