Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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25. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will consider legislation to bring rents back to 2010 levels in view of the recent report by a company (details supplied) regarding rental increases across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8949/17]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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34. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on a report (details supplied) which found that the annual rate of rental inflation, which reached 13.5% in q4 of 2016, was the highest since 2002; the measures he is taking to tackle this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9018/17]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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47. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the recent figures on rent increases in the private rented sector suggest that rental pressure zones should be extended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9045/17]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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56. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if, in view of recent data from a company (details supplied) that rents have risen by 12.5% nationwide in 2016, he will consider amending the criteria for qualification for rent pressure zones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8994/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 34, 47 and 56 together.

The most effective way to reduce and stabilise rents in the long term, and benefit the entire sector, is to increase supply and accelerate delivery of housing for the private and social rented sectors. Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, aims to increase and accelerate housing delivery across all tenures to help individuals and families meet their housing needs. It sets out over 80 actions that the Government is taking through new policy, new legislation and innovative Budgetarymeasures to achieve that aim.

Pillar 4 of the Action Plan committed to development of a comprehensive strategy for the rental sector and this was delivered, with the publication of the Strategy for theRental Sectoron 13 December 2016, which 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 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.

The Act provides that in confirming whether or not the criteria have been met, the information relating to the area concerned must be determined by the information used to compile the RTB Rent Index quarterly report. Statistics in the report referred to in the Question are based on asking rents for those properties which are advertised on that company's website, as opposed to the RTB figures which are based on rents paid in all registered tenancies.

It is important to note that the latest report referred to in the Questions relates to rent price inflation in the period prior to the introduction of the Rent Predictability measures and the Rent Pressure Zones. The data in the report underline the need for and the relevance of the Government's measures.

The Government's Rent Predictability measures limit rent increases to a maximum of 4% per annum - less than one third of the rate of rent inflation reported by the company referred to in the Question. Tenants in Rent Pressure Zones can now expect to see significantly smaller rent increases than those they have seen recently - or would have faced if the measures had not been introduced.

The prolonged under-supply of new rental units is the key factor underpinning rent inflation. This is borne out by the company's figures on supply, which indicate that there were fewer than 4,000 homes available to rent nationwide on 1 February, just over 1,600 of which were in Dublin. In designing the Rent Predictability Measure, the Government has sought to moderate rent increases, without negatively impacting on new investment in the sector.