Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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202. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department or any organisation measures rental increases within parts of a local electoral area in circumstances in which the area is partially within a rent pressure zone and partially not within a rent pressure zone; and if this information is only gathered for rental increases or decreases for the area as a whole. [37021/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004, as amended, provides 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 (RPZ). For the purpose of the Act, ‘area’ is defined as either the administrative area of a housing authority or a Local Electoral Area (LEA) within the meaning of section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001. There is no provision for any other type of area to be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone.

The criteria to be satisfied by an area under section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act for designation as an RPZ 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, and

b. the average rent for the area in the last quarter, as determined by reference to the information used to compile each RTB Rent Index quarterly report, is –

- in the case of counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow or an LEA in any one of those counties, above the average rent in the State, excluding rents in the 4 Dublin Local Authority areas, or

- in the case of any LEA outside of the Greater Dublin Area (i.e. Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow), above the average rent in the State, excluding rents in the Greater Dublin Area.

Each RTB quarterly Rent Index Report includes a summary in Table 9 of the data used to establish whether each Local Electoral Area fulfils the criteria for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone. This ensures transparency in relation to the position of individual areas in terms of average rent levels and increases.

The RTB Rent Index measures rent increases in LEAs using the 2019 boundaries for these LEAs and there is no specific measure to calculate rental increases broken down to any lower level (i.e. part of an LEA).

The Housing Agency and the RTB will continue to monitor national rents and if any LEA (in its entirety) meets the designation criteria it will be designated as a RPZ.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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203. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the four Dublin local authorities have had the inspections of private rental properties disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions; if so, the details of the extent of this disruption; and if his Department has provided guidance or support with respect to inspection of private rental properties. [37023/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Responsibility for the enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 rests with the relevant local authority. With increased Exchequer funding provided by my Department, the number of rental inspections undertaken by all local authorities reached an all-time high in 2019 with 40,727 conducted. However, given the need for inspectors to enter tenants’ homes, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have impacted on the inspection of all rented dwellings, with the number of inspections falling to 25,703 in 2020.

The number of private rental inspections undertaken by the four Dublin local authorities in 2019 and 2020 are set out in the table below:

* Includes 1,226 virtual inspections

The City and County Management Association’s (CCMA) Local Authority Services Frameworks for Future Covid-19 Pandemic Response does not permit rental inspections at present. This is in order to protect tenants, landlords and inspectors. The CCMA Framework is developed in accordance with Government public health guidance and restrictions and is reviewed as necessary and in line with updated guidance and restrictions.

In response to the pandemic some local authorities have been piloting virtual inspections. Dublin City Council have led this initiative, which entails landlords receiving a checklist for self-assessment and being required to submit photographic/video evidence by email, tenants being invited to raise any non-compliance issues they are aware of and the Council reserving the right to conduct a physical on-site inspection when it is safe to do so.

While virtual inspection systems present certain challenges and limitations, they do offer a way of improving the standard of rental accommodation despite the pandemic. My Department is encouraging local authorities not involved in the pilots to consider adopting them and providing Exchequer funding to those that do.

Some 1,400 virtual inspections were undertaken in 2020 by Dublin City Council, Kildare County Council and Monaghan County Council. Q1 2021 saw nearly 1,900 virtual inspections conducted. There are now 20 local authorities participating in the pilot project, including all four Dublin local authorities.

Annual data in respect of the level of inspections carried out by each local authority is available on my Department's website at