Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These amendments propose to deem the entire State a rent pressure zone, which has been debated numerous times and which I cannot accept. Having regard to the constitutionally protected property rights of landlords, including the right to receive an income from their properties, a blanket extension of the rent pressure zone rent predictability measure to rental properties across the entire country could be regarded as an unjust interference with those rights because it places a legislative limit on rental income without adequate or proportionate justification, by which I mean the interference is disproportionate to the objectives sought to be achieved. For an area to be designated a rent pressure zone, it must satisfy criteria. The annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the previous six quarters and the average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the previous quarter must be above the relevant average rent comparator under the Acts. The RTB rent index report provides a summary of the data used as the criteria for designating rent pressure zones in respect of all local electoral areas in the country. The Housing Agency continually monitors the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation.

The proposed amendments to deem the entire country a rent pressure zone are not considered to be warranted or legally justified. They are highly likely to be subject to a constitutional challenge in the courts and, accordingly, I cannot accept them.

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