Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has called on the Minister for Housing to immediately introduce a ban on rent increases as the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent calculator indicates that rental inflation has now reached 4.3%.
Teachta Ó Broin said:
“The RTB rent calculator now shows that rental inflation is at 4.3%. That means it has now breached the 4% cap that was introduced by Fine Gael in rent pressure zones in a failed attempt to stem rising rents.
“When the government finally decided to act to link rents to inflation it did so too late and was it warned at the time that rising inflation would mean this change would make little difference.
“A rental cap won’t work. There are too many loopholes. It doesn’t apply to new rental properties on the market and it is impossible to police. Furthermore, renters outside rent pressure zones are left to the mercy of the market.
“We need to see a three-year ban on rent increases and a refundable tax credit that would put one month’s rent back into the pocket of every private rented tenant.
“This would apply to all new and existing tenancies and the rent pressure zones would be scrapped.
“Banning rent increases and a refundable tax credit need to be supplemented by the roll out of affordable cost rental homes at scale. The cost of renting these homes should not be linked to the market and would remain permanently affordable with tenancies of indefinite duration.
“The rental system is a mess and this government does not have the vision to try and make the system fair and sustainable.
“The Minister for Housing is also refusing to take action or commission research as to why we are losing thousands of homes from the rental market.
“Building thousands of unaffordable build to rent apartments is not the solution. The supply, supply, supply mantra from this government means nothing unless the focus is placed on delivering affordable supply.
“Sinn Féin would deliver 4,000 affordable cost rental homes a year with rents of between €700 and €900 a month.”
