9 hours ago
No ‘special exemptions' for students under latest Rent Pressure Zone system, James Browne says
There will be no special exemption for students under new
Rent Pressure Zone
(RPZ) legislation, Minister for Housing
James Browne
has said.
In advance of a meeting with the Minister for Higher and Further Education
James Lawless
over concerns students could face higher rents, Mr Browne said a special protection for student tenants in the private market would be 'unworkable' and 'unenforceable'.
Earlier this week, Mr Lawless had
called for special exemptions for students
who could be 'inadvertently disadvantaged' by the new regulations due to the fact students change tenancies more frequently than other cohorts.
Under the proposed reform of RPZs, a student who started a new tenancy for each college year could see their rent increase to the market rate each time.
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Speaking after the Cabinet agreed on Tuesday to rush through legislation to extend RPZs to the entire country, Mr Browne said there 'won't be any special measures put in place in terms of the private rental sector, it will become impossible to police or to manage in those circumstances'.
He added: 'There is no special exemptions in current law for people in that particular situation, and there won't be under the new legislation either.'
Mr Browne said he would 'engage' with Mr Lawless on proposals for students who could be coming into and out of a tenancy in one year as 'that's a very different particular set of circumstances'.
'But I think to try and engineer into the legislation that a landlord would then have to identify what [is] that person's role? Are they a student? Are they a full-time student, part-time student, what qualifies as a student? It will be unworkable, and I think it will be unenforceable.'
Mr Browne also denied it was a 'mistake' not to rush through legislation to extend RPZs nationwide last week.
'I think we have moved very swiftly on this,' he said.
Earlier,
Labour's
housing spokesman Conor Sheehan claimed he had seen 'anecdotal' evidence of landlords in areas not yet covered by RPZs trying to increase their rents before the law was passed.
Some 17 per cent of existing tenancies are not covered by RPZs, according to latest estimates.
Mr Browne said there 'may' be some landlords who are currently carrying out a review of rents.
'What I always say to all the tenants, your rights are there in law. I know some tenants maybe may not be aware of that.'
He advised them to reach out to renters' organisation Threshold, their local councillor or TD who would 'certainly ensure that your rights are put in place'.
The Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to publish Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025 for 'priority enactment' with a view to having it pass all stages in the Oireachtas and be ready to be signed into law by the end of the week.
