John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 18, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:“Amendment of Residential Tenancies Act 2004

25. (1) The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1A) (inserted by paragraph (a) of section 3 of the Act of 2019) of section 3, by the substitution of “but does not apply to a dwelling” for “but does not include a dwelling”, and

(b) in subsection (5) of section 19, by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a) (inserted by paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 6 of the Act of 2019):

“(a) to the rent first set under the tenancy of—

(i) a dwelling—

(I) in a protected structure or proposed protected structure within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act 2000, or

(II) that is a such a structure,

provided that no tenancy in respect of that dwelling subsisted during the period of one year immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned commenced, or

(ii) any other dwelling, provided that no tenancy in respect of that dwelling subsisted during the period of 2 years immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned commenced,”.

(2) In this section “Act of 2019” means the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019.”.

This amends the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 as it relates to provisions in the recently enacted Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019.

Subsection (1) of the amendment is a technical provision to improve the consistency of the wording in section 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 by substituting “but does not apply to a dwelling” for “but does not include a dwelling” in subsection (1A) dealing with student accommodation, as inserted by the 2019 Act. The remainder of the amendment replaces paragraph (a) of section 19(5) of the 2004 Act, which paragraph was also inserted by the 2019 Act and describes the works that would bring about a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation such as to warrant an exemption from the 4% rent increase restriction applicable in rent pressure zones. Concerns have been raised that it would not be possible for works undertaken to protected structures to satisfy this prescription and that this could result in the loss of such units from the sector. That is the case because works to extend, adapt for disabled use or change the layout of a property are less likely to be permitted in protected structures. Works to improve the energy rating of a protected structure would not qualify them for an extension because such structures are exempt from the BER regulations.

In recognition of these factors and to encourage continued investment in this type of property for use in the rental sector, the proposed further change to section 19(5)(a) will allow for the first rent set under the tenancy of a protected or proposed protected dwelling not rented in the previous 12 months to be the market rent. Thereafter, the 4% annual rent increase ceiling will apply. For all dwellings that are not protected or proposed protected structures, the required vacancy period will remain at two years. The enactment of such an amendment in the immediate aftermath of the 2019 Act and the changes therein should help to eliminate any potential negative impact of the changes on the planned refurbishment of protected structures in the rental sector and help to maintain supply of that type of rental property.

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