Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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235. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the evidence he has for the claim that landlords are exiting the market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2545/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 2015 Annual Report of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) reported 319,609 registered tenancies with 170,282 landlords and 693,314 occupants.

There are no definitive figures on the overall size of the rented sector in Ireland. However, a study by DKM economic consultants commissioned by the RTB and published in 2014 examined both Central Statistics Office data and RTB annual reports to examine the size of the sector.

They reported on the size of the Rented Sector as follows:

There is evidence of a drop in the total number of landlords over recent years, followed by a recovery.

The results of Census 2016 will assist in providing an updated overview of housing tenure in Ireland, including the rented sector.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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236. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the current rate of return for landlords on private residential property with a buy to let mortgage and with no mortgage in view of his previous statements that the rationale for allowing rent increases of up to 4% in rent pressure zones was to ensure a rate of return for landlords of 4%. [2546/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The widely varying market conditions in the residential rental sector across the country mean that estimating rental income against landlords’ costs in providing rental properties in any meaningful aggregate manner is extremely difficult. Not only do rents vary significantly across the country but so do levels of indebtedness among landlords with buy to let mortgages and hence the costs they face in servicing their borrowings. Whether a rental property is financed through debt or equity, the issue of a return on investment still arises.

Neither my Department, nor the Residential Tenancies Board, collects information on the cost and value of landlords’ investment or on their operating costs.