Explainer: What are Rent Pressure Zones and what do new changes mean?
It has been flagged for some time since the new Government took office that changes will be introduced to the Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) system, which has been in place since 2016.
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RTÉ News
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Govt leaders agree to extend RPZs across country
Large landlords will be prohibited from implementing no-fault evictions, under a plan to be brought to Cabinet tomorrow by Minister for Housing James Browne. Landlords are to be categorised under a new system of national rent control, with large landlords defined as people who own four properties or more. Small landlords are those with three or fewer properties. Under the plan, which was approved by Coalition leaders tonight, Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are to be extended across the country to cover every tenancy. The leader's meeting was told that this could mean that nearly a fifth of renters, who currently reside outside RPZs, come under rent control protection. As widely reported, RPZs are to be retained for existing tenancies, with rents linked to inflation or capped at 2% - whichever is lower. However, new builds will not have a cap anymore, and increases or decreases will be linked solely to inflation. It is understood that landlords will only be able to 'reset' a rent if their tenant voluntarily leaves. Where a notice to quit is served on a tenant, the landlord can't reset the rent, as the Coalition's aim is to remove an economic incentive for landlords to evict their tenants. In a bid to strike a balance and protect renters, the plan also includes security of tenure for tenants for at least six years. It is understood that the proposal to bring the entire country under the RPZ regime had been previously agreed upon but not made public. Tonight's meeting was attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Ministers for Housing James Browne, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Jack Chambers. Earlier, Sinn Féin said the Government's proposals to restructure RPZs will lead to significant increases for many renters and put many at risk of homelessness. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Eoin Ó Broin accused the Taoiseach of gaslighting renters and deliberately misleading the public by claiming that the Government's proposals to restructure RPZs are balanced. and they would give greater protections to renters and provide certainty for investors. However, this is a contentious political decision. "When the Taoiseach said yesterday that this was a balanced package to protect renters and encourage investment, he is deliberately misleading the public," Mr Ó Broin said. "He is gaslighting renters, and I'm not even sure he fully understands the extent which they're putting huge numbers of people, young people, people approaching pension age, at enormous risk with even greater financial hardship, and in many cases, at risk of homeless," he said. Mr Ó Broin said there are thousands of tenants who signed tenancy agreements before 2022 and these people are only protected for six years before their landlord can evict them for any reason. The Government is proposing a perfectly legal mechanism to give those landlords leave to evict these tenants so they can avail of new rents, claimed Mr Ó Broin. Irish Property Owners Association gives cautious welcome to proposal Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) chairperson Mary Conway gave a cautious welcome to the proposal. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Conway said there is very little detail about the plans so far, but landlords would welcome the change to reset rents after a tenant leaves. The inability to do so is one of the biggest disincentives to new investments coming into the market at private investor level, she explained. "That's one of the biggest disincentives to new investments coming into the market at the private investor level, because in the current regime, if a property is sold, a new investor isn't going to buy it because it's capped at the old rent," she said. "That's particularly significant down around the country, where landlords are leaving and there's no incentive for any other landlords to buy the property." There is a lot of focus on apartments in Dublin, Ms Conway said, adding the IPOA represents a lot of one-owner landlords around the country and if they exit the market then there is no incentive for anyone to come in. She said 2% was marginal, but the IPOA welcomed any increase at this stage and particularly the ability to reset rents when a tenant leaves. Mike Allen, the Director of Advocacy at Focus Ireland, said the RPZ proposals could place further financial burden and threaten homelessness on renters when rental subsidies are not increasing. "They seem to be creating a system which creates incentives for landlords to evict tenants so they can bring in something at higher market rates," he said. "And secondly, they're increasing rents right across the board. What are they doing for low income people on HAP to make sure subsidies there don't force people into deeper debt and eventually into homelessness?" Mr Allen was speaking at the launch of two Raise the Roof housing demonstrations set to take place in Dublin and Cork over the next two weeks. The protests are being organised under the umbrella of trade unions and non-governmental organisations, with the first planned for Tuesday 17 June outside Leinster House.
