Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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38. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if there is a threshold of rent rises or further increases in homelessness that could be passed before he would consider strict rent controls; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33394/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Rental Sectorrecognises that high and rapidly rising rents are the most significant and immediate threat to the accommodation security of many households. For this reason, the Government introduced the Rent Predictability Measure and established the system of Rent Pressure Zones in December 2016 to moderate the rise in rents in the parts of the country where rents are highest and rising. In these areas, for a period of three years, rents can only rise by a maximum of 4% annually. The practical effect of the measure is that for three years, rents for more than 186,000 households who currently rent their homes in these areas will be lower than they would have been if market rents had continued to apply.

Section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended by section 36 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016) sets out thresholds of rent level and rent price inflation, on the basis of which Rent Pressure Zones are designated and the Rent Predictability Measure limits on rent increases come into effect. These are:

(i) The annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and

(ii) The average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the average national rent (the National Standardised Rent in the RTB’s Rent Index Report) in the last quarter (€987 per month).

When considering whether to propose a Local Electoral Area for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone, the Housing Agency, in consultation with the relevant local authority, assesses housing demand and supply, experiences in relation to the Rental Accommodation Scheme and Housing Assistance Payment Scheme, as well as trends in relation to general housing need and homelessness in the area.

In addition to the Rent Predictability Measure, the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 introduced a number of other provisions to enhance tenants’ security, including:

- The abolition of a landlord’s right, during the first 6 months of a further Part 4 tenancy, to end that tenancy for no stated ground;

- The extension of the term of Part 4 tenancies from 4 to 6 years;

- Where a landlord proposes to sell 10 or more units within a single development at the same time, the sale will be subject to the existing tenants remaining in situ, other than in exceptional circumstances.

My Department has initiated a review of the Rent Predictability Measure. At this stage, the measure has been in place for 6 months and data from the Residential Tenancies Board’s Rent Index Report for Quarter 1 2017 is also available. Using this latest data, it will be possible to ascertain the effectiveness of the Rent Predictability Measure and whether any changes need to be made.

As part of the review, my Department, last month, launched a public consultation on the Rent Predictability Measure and the system of Rent Pressure Zones. The consultation allowed members of the public and interested parties to provide their opinions and suggestions on the functioning of the measure. The 69 submissions received from the consultation process, which concluded on 30 June, will feed into the review of the measure.