Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My immediate response is that it would be a very foolish landlord who started to put up rents significantly in a town like Maynooth because that will guarantee that it will come under the rent pressure zone designations. It would be very counterproductive if the landlords' concern is the ability to increase rent.

On 24 January 2017, in accordance with section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, the Housing Agency proposed that 15 local electoral areas should be considered for designation as rent pressure zones. On foot of the proposal from the Housing Agency, again in accordance with the Act, I requested the Director of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to make a report to me as to whether these areas met the criteria for designation as rent pressure zones. On 26 January 2017, I received a report from the RTB confirming that 12 out of the 15 local electoral areas examined met the criteria and I made orders designating those 12 areas as rent pressure zones on 26 January 2017. The areas designated included the local electoral areas of Naas, Celbridge-Leixlip and Kildare-Newbridge.

For an area to be designated a rent pressure zone, it must satisfy the criteria set out in section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended): (i) the annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and (ii) the average rent in the area in the last quarter must be above the average national rent in the last quarter.

In terms of the local electoral area of Maynooth, the report received from the RTB indicated that while the average rent in the area was above the average national rent for the quarter, the annual rate of rent inflation in the area was greater than 7% in only three of the last six quarters. The requirement for designation is for the annual rate of rent inflation in the area to be 7% or more in four of the last six quarters. Therefore Maynooth did not qualify under the criteria set out but may well do if rents continue to increase. We will keep these areas under consideration. Of all Deputies in this House, Deputy Murphy will appreciate more than most that we must make decisions when intervening in the property market on the basis of independent analysis and data and not politics. There was an argument on that before Christmas.

I will rely on the independent data that is gathered by the RTB. We will make decisions accordingly.

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