Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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148. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce measures to address the issue of landlords seeking bids on advertised rents from prospective tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5081/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2016 regulate the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and set out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Acts to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 provides that rents may not be greater than the market rent. Market rent is defined in the Residential Tenancies Acts as the rent a willing tenant would give and a willing landlord would take for the dwelling concerned, having regard to the other terms of the tenancy and the letting values of dwellings of a similar size, type, and character and situated in a comparable area. Tenants may refer a complaint to the RTB where they feel the rent set under a tenancy, either at the start of a tenancy or through a rent review, is in excess of the market rent. These provisions have effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in a lease or tenancy agreement.

The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published on 13 December 2016, identifies high and rapidly rising rents as the key driver of accommodation insecurity for tenants and a factor in the termination of tenancies. To address this situation, the Rental Strategy introduced a Rent Predictability Measure to moderate rent increases in those parts of the country where the imbalance between demand and supply of rental accommodation is driving rent levels upwards most acutely.

The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 gave effect to, and provided for the immediate implementation of, the Rent Predictability Measure. Areas of the country satisfying the statutory criteria will be designated as Rent Pressure Zones and rent increases in those areas are generally capped at 4% per annum for a period of 3 years. The measure was introduced with immediate effect in the four Dublin Local Authority areas and in Cork City. A further 12 Local Electoral Areas were designated as Rent Pressure Zones on 27 January 2017.

The provisions limiting rent increases in rent pressure zones apply both at the commencement of a tenancy and at each rent review. In addition, at the beginning of a tenancy, there is a statutory obligation on a landlord in a rent pressure zone to provide a tenant with details of the rent under the previous tenancy of the dwelling, together with a statement as to how the new rent has been calculated. The purpose of this provision is to allow a tenant to ensure that their rent complies with the legislation. The existing prohibition on charging a rent above market rent continues to apply in all areas.