Ms Rosalind Carroll:

I currently have no power to do anything with complaints. The only way a person can take a case to us is through our dispute services. People have come forward to us. It is interesting to note that the percentage of tenants coming forward has increased in terms of our overall disputes numbers. Some 59% of disputes referred to us last year were taken by tenants, rather than landlords, and that rose to 63% this year. More tenants are coming forward to us.

As regards rents and market rents, we are coming from a very low base. In 2016, 255 cases on the issue of rent reviews and whether they were legal were taken with the RTB. That may primarily concern rent pressure zones but it could be in regard to the rent certainty legislation brought in by the 2015 legislation. For example, a landlord may have conducted a rent review before being entitled to do so or may not have given the required notice. In such complaints, there are usually several breaches rather than only one. For example, a complaint would probably not be in regard to an increase of over 4% but, rather, an increase of over 4% and an invalid notice and a failure to serve 90 days' notice. It is not just one breach that is being found.