The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has seen a large increase in the number of complaints they have received over rental increases.
The RTB has seen a 70% increase in the number of people complaining over hikes in the price of their rent, as well as the number of illegal eviction cases which the agency has dealt with in the space of a year.
In 2014, the RTB said they worked on 185 cases of rent being increased above the market rate, while that figure increased to 313 last year.
Speaking to The Independent, housing charity Threshold said that the number could be even higher as many renters do not even take the step of lodging a complaint with the RTB, and that there is a lack of awareness from renters as to their rights.
Coordinator for Threshold Dublin, Stephen Large, said that landlords "need to be challenged but people do not dispute rents as much as they should".
It was also noted that there is no central register which can be used to prove that an increase is in line with the market rate, which makes disputes more difficult to resolve.
