Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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178. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when Navan, Trim, Athboy, Enfield, Oldcastle, Castlepollard and Delvin will become eligible to qualify as rent pressure zones. [3533/18]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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181. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will direct the Residential Tenancies Board to extend the rent pressure zone to all of County Louth in view of the rent increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3567/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 178 and 181 together.

Section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2016  sets out the procedure for the Minister to prescribe, by order, an area as a Rent Pressure Zone. It provides that the Housing Agency, in consultation with the relevant housing authority, may make a written proposal to the Minister that an identified area be prescribed as a Rent Pressure Zone. Within 1 week of receipt of such a proposal, the Minister shall request the Director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to furnish him, within 2 weeks, with a rent zone report on whether the proposed area  satisfies the criteria specified in subsection 24A(4) for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone.

The criteria to be satisfied by an area under section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Acts for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone are as follows:

(a) the information relating to the area, as determined by reference to the information used to compile  each RTB Rent Index quarterly report, shows that the annual rate of increase in the average amount of rent for that area is more than 7% in each of at least 4 of the 6 quarters preceding the period immediately prior to the date of the Housing Agency's proposal.

(b) the average rent for the area in the last quarter, as determined by reference to the information used to compile each the RTB Rent Index quarterly report, is above the average national rent (commonly referred to as the Rent Index national standardised rent) in the last quarter.

Therefore, the annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and the average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the Rent Index national standardised rent in the last quarter.

A Rent Pressure Zone calculator is available on the Residential Tenancies Board website at , to assist landlords and tenants in determining if their dwelling is in a Rent Pressure Zone and to calculate the maximum rent amount permitted for their dwelling.

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. 

The RTB's news page on its Rent Index at the following link - https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/news/latest-data-from-rtb-quarterly-rent-index-q3-2017/ - provides access to the most recent RTB Rent Index quarterly report (for Q3 2017) and summarises its key findings. Information is also provided as part of the RTB's education and awareness campaign relating to Rent Pressure Zones.

Table 9 in the RTB Rent Index Quarterly Index Report illustrates the recent rent changes at Local Electoral Area (LEA) level. The Table outlines for each LEA the number of quarters within the last 6 Quarters where the annualised rent increases have been greater than or equal to 7% and how rent levels in each LEA compares to the Rent Index national standardised rent.