Enforcement of rent legislation breaches 'must be stepped up'
New data provided for the first time by the RTB on existing tenancies also shows in-situ tenants are paying far less to rent their home than new tenants — paying 18% less on average.
The Residential Tenancies Board has been told it must ramp up enforcement of rent legislation breaches, as new data shows tenants are facing the highest rent increases since records began.
Its Rent Index for the second quarter of this year shows the average rent for new tenancies in the country stood at €1,574 — a rise of 11.6% on the same time in 2022, and the highest annual rise since the first index in 2007.
New data provided for the first time by the RTB on existing tenancies also shows in-situ tenants are paying far less to rent their home than new tenants — paying 18% less on average.
However, even the cost of existing tenancies is rising, with annual inflation of 5.3%.
The RTB says its new dataset, which includes both new and existing tenancies, is a “major step forward” in tracking the rental market and that the new requirement for landlords to register annually meant it has the “only comprehensive data source” in this regard.
"This strengthens significantly the ability to understand the rental sector in Ireland, which has undergone considerable change in the past number of years," it said.
The data also shows rents in Cork City are growing at a higher rate than Cork county. In each area, the growth in how much new tenants are charged was far higher than those for existing tenants.
In the space of a year, new tenants in Cork City are paying €1,539 on average, a rise of 11.4%. The average rent for existing tenants, meanwhile, was €1,286 which was a rise of 3.5%.
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the while the new data shows renters are getting “fleeced” in the market, it also provides a “powerful tool” for the Residential Tenancies Board to enforce the law and ensure tenants are not subject to illegal rent hikes above the 2% Rent Pressure Zone limit.
Mr Ó Broin said while the data does not allow us to see how much of the rise in the cost of renting is down to non-compliance with rent pressure zone requirements, “some of it absolutely is”.
“The board needs to get more proactive in enforcement both on registration and RPZ,” he said.
Lucia Crimin, deputy director of the RTB, said as a regulator it needed to be empowered to make “high-quality informed decisions”.
“It’s quite difficult to attack these difficult issues without high-quality data,” she said. “We have that data now, and we’re hopeful for what we can do with that. It’s important from a societal perspective to address these potential non-compliances and they need to be dealt with.
“I should say these are processes that need to be built. They’re not well developed currently. That’s the challenge for ‘24, ‘25. That’s our firm commitment to design those processes, sweat them out, identify non-compliance, deal with it and report on it in a meaningful way.”
Ms Crimin added the RTB had the resources available to tackle the issue of landlords’ non-compliance but would co-operate with the minister for housing should more resources be required.
