The Minister for Housing believes the Residential Tenancies Board now has the means and the power to enforce his newly expanded rent control legislation.
Eoghan Murphy was speaking after the Government's Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) legislation was officially expanded to 19 new areas across 11 counties.
It is illegal for landlords to increase rents by more than 4% per year within the zones.
The zones were originally increased in Dublin and Cork in 2016 and have since been expanded into a number of other areas.
Despite this, rents have continued to increase in the years since with the latest Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) Rent Index showing an 8.3% in the national average rent.
According to the report, rents in Dublin are up 8.5% on last year while rents outside the capital are up 9.6% year-on-year.
Is your property or tenancy in a Rent Pressure Zone? Find out the maximum rent amount permitted for the dwelling by using our Rent Pressure Zone Rent Calculator: https://t.co/4mu5H3WIkl pic.twitter.com/r7fJEHxrk5
— Residential Tenancies Board (@RTBinfo) July 2, 2019
On The Hard Shoulder with Ivan Yates this evening, Minister Murphy said the zones have been working in some parts of the country, adding “we know they can work better.”
“That is why we changed the law to both expand them [...] but also to make sure that the RTB can be a better police of them – which is what we are going to see now because of the new powers they have and the new personnel to do that,” he said.
He said landlords found to be in breach of the RPZ legislation will face fines of up to €30,000.
On top of that if a landlord is found to have wrongly evicted a tenant, they will have to offer the property back to them in order to keep it on the market.
Our Q1 2019 Rent Index which shows that the national average rent is €1,169. To read the report, visit: https://t.co/f3j8pi9lVV pic.twitter.com/6eTWge8dFv
— Residential Tenancies Board (@RTBinfo) July 2, 2019
Minister Murphy said the RTB has been handed the means to increase its staff, "to the tune of around 60%" - with inspectors hired to take independent action against landlords.
“What they are hiring are new inspection officers and new authorised officers who can actually proceed with these cases,” he said.
“One of the important things that we have done though, in terms of those people that are being employed, is that it is no longer incumbent on a tenant to take a case against their landlord.
“Because some people may feel they are in a vulnerable position if they do that because the landlord might just try and chuck them out.
“So now the RTB can do that independently.”
You can listen back to the full interview on The Hard Shoulder here:
Is @MurphyEoghan a captive to his Department of Housing officials?
Ivan asked him on today's show - you can listen to what he said here:https://t.co/o9zCLAjiAV via @newstalkfm— The Hard Shoulder (@TheHardShoulder) July 2, 2019
