Bill to extend Rent Pressure Zones 'an utter shambles'
The Dáil is debating legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) across the country.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025 is expected to be passed by the lower house of the Oireachtas today and go to the Seanad tomorrow.
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin described the proposed legislation as "an utter shambles" and "utterly defensible".
He told the Dáil that he has never witnessed such a "haphazard, ramshackle, back of the envelope" approach to a crucial policy, adding that it is a "farce".
Minister of State at the Department of Housing Christopher O'Sullivan, who introduced the bill, said that the Government is moving fast because tenants need protection and this will be delivered by extending RPZs.
"This is an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation," he added, claiming that it would create certainty, stability and clarity for the sector.
Mr O'Sullivan added that "this will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West.
However, Mr Ó Broin described the Government move as an "assault on renters" who "will be the losers".
Ministers, he added, "scrambled around" to add references to students to the bill after failing to mention them in any advance briefing.
"It is the Fianna Fáil rent hike bill," the deputy said, adding that the party's solution to rising rents "is to keep those rents rising".
Mr Ó Broin also said that the move amounts to the dismantling of Rent Pressure Zones and "rips the heart out of the RPZs".
He claimed that "in the best case scenario" the proposals will create a modest increase of (housing) supply in high-value areas "and everybody else will be left behind".
Security of tenure changes will benefit a small group of tenants, Mr Ó Broin conceded, but said they will create more complicated and difficult rules that can be exploited by rogue landlords and will lead accidental landlords to make mistakes.
All this will add to the workload of the already overloaded Residential Tenacies Board (RTB), he said.
Mr O'Sullivan defended the bill, claiming the Government is aiming to strike a balance in its approach.
"We aim to attract investment, but we know that tenants deserve and need fair treatment," he said.
The minister noted that a larger landlord - with four or more tenancies - cannot end a tenancy created on or after March 2026 via a no-fault eviction.
"No-fault evictions will be restricted to smaller landlords and outlawed for larger landlords," Mr O'Sullivan said.
The minister added that rent resetting would be allowed only in specific circumstances.
"This will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West, the minister added.
Minister of State John Cummins said that 17% of tenancies are outside RPZs.
He emphasised the role of enforcement and noted that the RTB has launched "several in-depth investigations into serious, deliberate and repeated breaches of rental law".
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Irish Daily Mirror
27 minutes ago
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Minister accuses opposition of whipping up 'false anger' on Rent Pressure Zones
The opposition has been accused of 'whipping up anger' and creating 'confusion' over the Government's plan to reform Rent Pressure Zones. It follows suggestions that the Government will be 'jacking up the rents for tens of thousands of hard-pressed renters from March 2026 onwards'. Legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) nationwide was expedited through the Dáil on Wednesday and will be rushed through the Seanad on Thursday in a bid to get the legislation signed into law by the end of the week. The change will mean that no landlord across the country will be able to increase rent by more than two per cent, or the level of inflation, whichever is less. A new regime will come into place from next March, which will create six-year tenancies. Once these are up, or if a tenant leaves the property voluntarily, landlords can increase their rents to market rates. Housing Minister James Browne confirmed on Tuesday that rents for students who live in private rental accommodation for the duration of an academic year will be able to be increased if they leave the property voluntarily. The RPZ plans were torn to shreds by the opposition, with Sinn Féin's housing spokesman branding the announcements in recent weeks as 'utter shambles'. He said: 'In my entire time in Dáil Éireann, I have never witnessed a more haphazard, ramshackle, back-of-the-envelope process for putting in place widespread reforms that are going to impact tens of thousands of people. 'While I understand Ministers and Ministers of State have to come here and defend this farce, privately they must be absolutely reeling. 'The credibility of the Government's housing policy has once again been exposed as an absolute sham. 'Only five months into the job, the Minister's own credibility has been badly damaged.' He continued: 'Let us call it by its name. It is the Fianna Fáil rent hike Bill. This is Micheál Martin, who initiated this process and pulls the strings of his Minister, jacking up the rents for tens of thousands of hard-pressed renters from March 2026 onwards.' In response, Minister Browne accused the opposition of He said: 'What the opposition are trying to do, in a really dishonest way, is trying to deliberately create confusion and to whip up false anger among people, to whip up anger among people for pure political ends, putting politics before people. 'It's such a dishonest way to approach things, so it is.' Minister Browne further said that while there had been a lot of criticism, the opposition had failed to put forward alternative solutions.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
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‘A total shambles' – renters will be the losers due to market reforms, Dáil told
TDs are this afternoon debating the Government's laws to designate the entire country a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ), which will bring in rent caps to all properties. This will cap rent increases per year at 2pc or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Most opposition parties are supporting the laws, having called previously for the entire country to be designated an RPZ, but they also are putting forward their own amendments. Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said 'renters will be the losers' as a result of the changes. He said the plans were 'total shambles', 'haphazard' and 'back of the envelope'. 'You're going to make things worse in the short term,' he told the Dáil. He predicted there would be higher rents and no guarantee of increased supply. Mr Ó Broin said the 'best case scenario', which is aimed at driving fund investment in apartments for rent, would 'modest levels' of investments from abroad. His party colleague, Louise O'Reilly, told the Dáil how her father had attended the housing protest outside of Leinster House yesterday. She said he campaigned 56 years ago for better housing and that he had thought he would not have to still be doing so, five decades later. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said the announcement of the rent reform plans was 'nothing short of shambolic'. ADVERTISEMENT 'What was proposed last week nearly caused a run on the rental market,' he said. He said it 'really shows how weak' the Government was. Social Democrat TD Rory Hearne said the housing market didn't operate like any other market and it shouldn't be treated like it did. 'It's delusional thinking, it's market-like thinking that doesn't apply,' Mr Hearne told the Dáil. He said people 'need a home and people will pay whatever they can' to get one. 'Relying on institutional investors to provide a key source of housing is absolutely a wrong measure.' Junior housing minister Christopher O'Sullivan said the Government was bringing forward the laws quickly 'because renters need protection'. He said linking rents to inflation would be 'an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation'. 'We want to provide certainty, clarity and stability for the rental sector. The new policy measures announced last week to apply from March 1 will boost supply of homes.' He said laws would be brought forward later this year to give effect to the changes kicking in from March 1, which would include removing the 2pc rent cap from newly built apartments. New tenancies created after this date will be able to be set at 'market value' but will have 'far greater' protections for renters.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Bill to extend Rent Pressure Zones 'an utter shambles'
The Dáil is debating legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) across the country. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025 is expected to be passed by the lower house of the Oireachtas today and go to the Seanad tomorrow. Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin described the proposed legislation as "an utter shambles" and "utterly defensible". He told the Dáil that he has never witnessed such a "haphazard, ramshackle, back of the envelope" approach to a crucial policy, adding that it is a "farce". Minister of State at the Department of Housing Christopher O'Sullivan, who introduced the bill, said that the Government is moving fast because tenants need protection and this will be delivered by extending RPZs. "This is an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation," he added, claiming that it would create certainty, stability and clarity for the sector. Mr O'Sullivan added that "this will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West. However, Mr Ó Broin described the Government move as an "assault on renters" who "will be the losers". Ministers, he added, "scrambled around" to add references to students to the bill after failing to mention them in any advance briefing. "It is the Fianna Fáil rent hike bill," the deputy said, adding that the party's solution to rising rents "is to keep those rents rising". Mr Ó Broin also said that the move amounts to the dismantling of Rent Pressure Zones and "rips the heart out of the RPZs". He claimed that "in the best case scenario" the proposals will create a modest increase of (housing) supply in high-value areas "and everybody else will be left behind". Security of tenure changes will benefit a small group of tenants, Mr Ó Broin conceded, but said they will create more complicated and difficult rules that can be exploited by rogue landlords and will lead accidental landlords to make mistakes. All this will add to the workload of the already overloaded Residential Tenacies Board (RTB), he said. Mr O'Sullivan defended the bill, claiming the Government is aiming to strike a balance in its approach. "We aim to attract investment, but we know that tenants deserve and need fair treatment," he said. The minister noted that a larger landlord - with four or more tenancies - cannot end a tenancy created on or after March 2026 via a no-fault eviction. "No-fault evictions will be restricted to smaller landlords and outlawed for larger landlords," Mr O'Sullivan said. The minister added that rent resetting would be allowed only in specific circumstances. "This will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West, the minister added. Minister of State John Cummins said that 17% of tenancies are outside RPZs. He emphasised the role of enforcement and noted that the RTB has launched "several in-depth investigations into serious, deliberate and repeated breaches of rental law".
