Tánaiste committed to increasing rental properties ahead of Dáil debate on rental reforms

Ottoline Spearman

The Tánaiste has said that he remains committed to increasing the number of houses available to rent in Ireland.

Simon Harris's comment comes ahead of the final Dáil debates on the Residential Tenancies Bill on Wednesday evening, which sets out significant reforms to the rental sector. Five hours have been set aside for the debates.

Speaking on Newstalk, Harris said that the Government has made changes to ensure more tenancies are available to those who need them: "Houses are required for the rental market. As of the last census, there were 330,000 units in the private rental sector, 62 per cent of which were outside of Dublin. So we do need to make sure that we also have a rental supply."

The new bill will see rent pressure zones extended nationwide, capping annual rent increases at the rate of inflation or 2 per cent, whichever is lower.

The [Government] have guillotined the bill in what is clearly an attempt to prevent any proper oversight or scrutiny of this bill that is going to lead to dramatic rent increases for private renters. - Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit

New tenancies created from March 1st onwards will be set at market value and offer six-year minimum rolling tenancies.

Rental agreements will run for six years, but new provisions will be made for smaller landlords wishing to sell.

Large landlords, defined as having four or more tenancies, will be banned from carrying out no-fault evictions for tenancies beginning from March.

A small landlord can end tenancies through a “no-fault eviction” in limited circumstances, such as economic hardship or to move a family member in, but if they do that, they cannot reset the rent until the six-year window ends.

The new rules will not apply to tenancies created before March or apartments commenced after June 9th 2025, and student-specific accommodation.

But the bill has faced fierce opposition, with opposition parties expressing their concern in a joint report in January.

Spokesmen from Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit on the Housing Committee called on the Government to scrap the bill.

They said expert evidence to the committee demonstrated there would be “dramatic increases” in rents for private and student renters, effectively ending protections which existed under rent pressure zones (RPZs) in previous years.

They argued that tenants in new rental stock will have “no rental protections whatsoever”, adding that the proposals do not enhance security of tenure for existing tenants.

Speaking on Newstalk on Tuesday, ahead of the final Dáil debate, People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said: "The [Government] have guillotined the bill in what is clearly an attempt to prevent any proper oversight or scrutiny of this bill that is going to lead to dramatic rent increases for private renters."