Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, provides that the Housing Agency, in consultation with housing authorities, may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered as a rent pressure zone. Following receipt of such a proposal, the Minister requests the director of the RTB to conduct an assessment of the area to establish whether or not it meets the criteria for designation and to report to the Minister on whether the area should be designated as a rent pressure zone. For the purpose of the Act, "area" is defined as either the administrative area of a housing authority or a local electoral area within the meaning of section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001.

For an area to be designated as a rent pressure zone, it must satisfy the following criteria set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016: the annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters and the average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the average national rent. The most recent average national rent available for this purpose is taken from the third quarter of the 2018 RTB rent index report which records an average national rent of €1,122. Local electoral areas in Limerick and Waterford cities do not currently fulfil the rent pressure zone designation criteria under the legislation. The Housing Agency will continue to monitor the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation. Where, following the procedures set out in the Act, it is found at a future date that additional areas meet the criteria, they will be designated as rent pressure zones.

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