Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the towns in County Kildare that are covered by the new rent controls; and if there are plans to extend these controls to other towns in the county in which rents are increasing rapidly. [7152/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 amends the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide 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 Residential Tenancies Board (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.

On 24 January 2017 the Housing Agency proposed that 15 Local Electoral Areas in the following five housing authority areas should be considered for designation: Cork County, Galway city, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. On foot of the proposal from the Housing Agency, and in accordance with section 24A(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended), I requested the Director of the RTB to make a report to me as to whether these areas met the criteria for designation as Rent Pressure Zones.

On 26 January 2017, I received a report from the RTB confirming that 12 out of the 15 Local Electoral Areas examined met the criteria. As required by section 24A(5) of the Act, I made Orders designating the 12 Rent Pressure Zones on 26 January 2017.

On 27 January 2017, the designation of the local electoral areas of Naas, Celbridge-Leixlip and Kildare-Newbridge in County Kildare as Rent Pressure Zones came into effect. The towns covered by these designations are provided for in the County of Kildare Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2014 (S.I. No. 52 of 2014), a copy of which can be accessed at:

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Under the Act, I have no further role or discretion in proposing areas for designation as Rent Pressure Zones or in deciding whether they should be designated. The designation process is independent and based on clear objective criteria and quantifiable evidence.

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.