Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for their interesting answers to our questions.

I will revert to some of the data. This may be a question for Ms Gallagher specifically. I would be interested in her thoughts on the estimated figures for last year. There is not a straight correlation between previous and estimated registrations. Therefore, the headline figure just looks like a reduction of 43,000 in the number of private rental properties over the five years in question. Is it as simple as that or is there more to it? Will Ms Gallagher also let us know when the RTB hopes to have the 2022 figures at a publishable point? Even the quarter 1 or quarter 2 figures would be good.

I turn to the survey results relating to those landlords who are considering leaving in the next 12 months - the 15% of landlords who are likely or very likely to sell and the 10% who are likely or very likely to issue a notice to quit for use by a family member. The witnesses will not stray into policy areas, but the more research and visibility we can get around such trends, the more we would like it. In fairness, Deputy Higgins asked about sample sizes and so on. Having any datum is useful, especially independent data from the RTB. Has it plans to conduct further research? If we continue to have a disorderly exit of landlords for the range of reasons the research shows at a time when the supply of various types is not catching up, the consequence will be more homelessness. Therefore, the more data we get, the more informed we, as policymakers, can be.

In its quarter 4 report, the RTB provided data on notices to quit up to the end of last year, but it also provided data on notices to quit in quarters 1 and 2 of this year. Does it have quarter 3 data? If not, do the witnesses know when they will be publishing them and can share them with the committee?