Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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449. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has considered the impact of the rent pressure zone legislation on tenants and landlords when extending the applicability of the legislation to December 2025; if he considered the impact of this policy on the capital values of properties in these areas; the number of sales of properties that have taken place since the policy was introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29899/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under Housing for All, the Government is committed to increasing supply and protecting renters while trying to keep small landlords in the system. The Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2023) includes Action 21 – Publish the review of the private rental market. My Department is currently finalising a review of the Private Rental sector which will inform Government on a number of potential policy measures which could be taken to support a well-functioning private rental sector in Ireland. I intend to bring this review to Government.

Taking account of legal advices, the prevailing pressures on rent levels and all other relevant factors including the impending expiry on 31 December 2024 of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) and of the legal restriction to biannual rent reviews outside of RPZs, the Planning and Development Bill 2023 was amended in Dáil Éireann on 14 May 2024 to provide for amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 to give the sector foresight and certainty of the extended application of existing rent controls by one year until 31 December 2025. During this time, a review of the operation of the RPZ rent controls will take place taking account of market changes and the experiences in other jurisdictions. A particular focus of this review will be the need to continue to attract and maintain investment in the sector, bearing in mind affordability issues that some renters may have.

The early announcement of these measures aims to provide some measure of comfort for renters who likely wish for certainty with regard to their rental payments. The early announcement also aims to assist the wider housing and homelessness services in planning to meet demand. An unaffordable rent increase can cause the termination of a tenancy. Details for residential property prices based on sale transactions are available on the Property Price Register. All residential property sales transactions are included in this Register, which does not identify if properties are/were rental dwellings, since RPZs came into operation in December 2016. The register can be found at the following link: .