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As Residential Tenancies Board data confirms that rents are continuing to rise rapidly, advocates including Threshold highlight ways that Rent Pressure Zones are failing to dampen rent inflation. Picture: iStock

The State’s regulator of the rental sector has published new figures on the chronic situation faced by tenants across the country, which confirm the size of the challenge facing a new government that will be under pressure to tackle the issue. 

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) figures, released last week, confirmed that rents continue to rise at a sharp pace nationwide, with that growth slightly less in the areas close to and encompassing Dublin, for the simple reason that rental rates in those places have already reached saturation point.