Latest news with #RentPressureZones
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Micheál Martin says Government's housing target remains at 300,000 despite Central Bank downgrading forecast
It comes as Housing Minister James Brown said the target to build 41,000 homes this year is "not realistic". Mr Browne has admitted previously that meeting the 2025 target would be "extremely challenging" and all predictions are trending around 34,000. Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday, he said he is committed to enacting a "step change" in the housing department and will clear "the dead wood out of the way so that homes can get delivered". "I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected," he said of the housing targets. "We had hoped for much higher figures last year. "I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. "We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. "My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. "40,000 houses is nowhere near enough." The Central Bank has also projected the Government will miss its own housing targets by a wide margin for the next three years – and on Thursday revised its prediction down further, predicting 32,500 newbuilds by the end of 2025. Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Mr Martin said the Government has taken measures including the allocation of "an extra €700 million to housing" and the proposed changes to Rent Pressure Zones. ADVERTISEMENT "These decisions are difficult. We could have left it alone, but we would have affected future supply. We need more supply," he said. Mr Martin added that there is "no silver bullet" and the RPZs, short-term lets legislation, the Housing Activation Office and the extension of Land Development Agency powers are among measures being taken. "All these are vital in terms of the medium-term situation. If we don't do what we're doing now, then we'll have real problems in three or four years." On whether the Government would consider bringing in tax incentives for apartment building such as Section 23, he said he is "not going to pre-empt in any way discussions on the budget". "Part of what we were doing last week is to create a settled environment, a stable environment, for private sector investment to come in. We do need private sector investment in housing and in apartment building. That is what has declined," he said. He said the increase in resources to authorities like the Residential Tenancies Board, An Bord Pleanála and the Planning Commission will continue as it is "penny wise, pound foolish to starve these vital bodies of resources, because the costs otherwise are in the millions". The last Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition built more than 130,000 homes between 2020 and 2024, while the current coalition has set a target of in excess of 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030. The target for this year is 41,000 new builds, despite the fact the Government missed its target of 33,450 last year and also missed its newbuild social housing target by 1,429 last year. The Government is being pressured again over the housing crisis after announcing a swathe of new rent and housing measures. This includes the introduction of rent caps nationwide of 2pc or to inflation, whichever is lower. This will apply to around a fifth of tenancies not already covered, but has been criticised for allowing rents to "reset" to the market rate when renters voluntarily leave a tenancy. New six-year minimum tenancies on offer from March next year have been criticised for allowing landlords to "reset" rents every six years. The Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Government, supported by several independents, has insisted boosting supply is the best way to encourage affordability while opposition parties argue more state-owned homes and regulation is needed. Meanwhile, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland this morning as well, the minister said he expects that rent pressure zones could be extended to the entirety of the country by tomorrow night. He said: 'I have had to make choices, I have brought in a permanent rent control for the country. "It will begin on 1 March 2026 but we are taking emergency measures in the meantime. It will bring in important protections for rents. The important thing is for existing tenancies, about 200,000 people, nothing will change if you stay in your current tenancy. The current rule - that rent can only go up by inflation or only 2pc, whichever the lower - will remain. His comments come as he announced earlier in the week that it would be 'unworkable and unenforceable' to ask landlords to reduce rents for students. 'The second thing is what we expect from tomorrow night or certainly by the end of the week that we will have rent pressure zones extended to the entirety of the country. 'A further protection measure we are bringing in for renters is what's known as security of tenure. That will mean people will have certainty as to their rental position. However, to be able to bring that in under the advice of the constitution, because landlords have strong property rights, they need to be able to have some measure where they can reset their rent. The minister has previously discussed six-year minimum tenancies from March next year, which has been criticised by the opposition for allowing landlords to reset rents every six years or when tenants leave of their own volition. Minister Browne added: 'So the only way they would be able to reset their rent is if a tenant voluntarily leaves the property and a new tenant comes in. For example, if the landlord serves notice to quit, to sell a property, they won't be able to reset the rent, so there is no economic incentive to move them out. But if a tenant voluntarily moves out that landlord will be able to reset the rent.' Meanwhile, Mr Martin said that while housing will remain among the priorities, the next budget will "have to be shaped in the context of the tariff issue" as well as the current situation in the Middle East, which can affect trade and shipping costs. "We've witnessed that. We saw the impact of the Ukraine war both, but the combination of post-COVID and the Ukraine war led to an inflationary spiral for two to three years, which was very high and impacted hugely on people," he said. "And so now we're looking at both a trade tariff issue, we're looking at the war in the Middle East, which could get worse and could lead to more instability, we will be mindful of all of that in terms of shaping this budget. "But the priorities will be first of all, housing, the priority will be disability, and we want to tackle child poverty."
Extra.ie
a day ago
- Business
- Extra.ie
Thousands of Airbnb lettings set to become illegal from tomorrow
Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. The Dáil voted last night to approve emergency legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones to the entire country. Under RPZ rules, short-term lets such as Airbnb are required to have planning permission in order to operate. Thousands of these properties will be subsumed into RPZs as early as tomorrow, when it is expected the legislation will be signed into law. Under RPZ rules, someone can let their entire home for a maximum of 90 days without planning permission, but only if it is their principal private residence. Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. Pic: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock A spokeswoman for the Housing Minister has confirmed to that there will be no exemptions made, despite the change effectively rendering thousands of Airbnb rentals illegal within days. 'RPZ rules will apply as they do currently when new areas are zoned as an RPZ,' she said. It comes despite lobbying from within the coalition against such an approach. Michael Healy Rae told the Irish Times on Wednesday that he was concerned about the impact the measures would have. Meanwhile, several senior sources told they expected the new laws to be flouted. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins They said that, as there is so little compliance and enforcement of the existing rules, they did not expect it to be an issue. 'We don't really expect there to be people hauled up before the courts as a result of this because they aren't being brought up in counties already in RPZs where they are clearly operating,' one source said. 'It's a matter for planning ultimately, but the current regime isn't being implemented,' a separate Government source said. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Pic: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin It is understood that Mr Browne will insist that any further changes to short-term lets will only be permitted in the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which is in the early stages of making its way through the Oireachtas. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Opposition TDs were scathing in their criticism of the Government's changes to the rental market last night. Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin described the emergency legislation as an 'utter shambles'. 'In my entire time in Dáil Éireann, I have never witnessed a more haphazard, back-of-the-envelope process for putting in place widespread reforms that are going to impact tens of thousands of people,' he said. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said the announcement of the rent reform plans was 'nothing short of shambolic'.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Rent Pressure Zones could be in place across country by Friday, Dáil told
An emergency law to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) to the entire country could be in place by Friday if the President signs the legislation immediately after the Oireachtas passes it, the Dáil has heard. Minister of State for Housing Christopher O'Sullivan said the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill is an 'immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation'. The controversial legislation is being rushed through both Houses replacing scheduled proceedings as an interim measure to 'quickly protect all tenants from high rent increases'. The Opposition supported the legislation, despite intense criticism of the Government's 'ramshackle, haphazard' and 'back-of-the-envelope' reform proposals. READ MORE [ Thousands of holiday lets will need planning permission due to Rent Pressure Zone changes Opens in new window ] The legislation was passed in the Dáil on Wednesday and goes to the Seanad on Thursday. Mr O'Sullivan said that 'from the day after the passing of this Bill' with 'enactment by President Higgins ' no rent increase across the country can exceed 2 per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, with certain exceptions. 'This is an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation,' he said. 'We want to provide certainty, clarity and stability for the rental sector,' he said. The new policy measures announced last week to apply from next March aim to boost investment in the supply of homes. Legislation will be introduced later this year to give effect to reforms announced last week which will apply from March 2026 when rents for new tenancies can be set at market value. But Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin described the Government's proposals as an 'utter shambles' and 'an assault on renters' who will be the losers. He hit out at the 'haphazard, ramshackle, back-of-the-envelope process' for widespread reforms that will affect 'tens of thousands of people'. Mr Ó Broin said that 'in the best-case scenario' there will only be 'a modest increase in the levels of institutional investment in high-end, high-cost, private rental cost developments'. 'The consequence of this is that renters everywhere will pay a cost,' because '80 per cent of current renters are in tenancies of six months or less' and 'the idea that somehow existing renters are protected is simply not true'. Labour spokesman Conor Sheehan who called for a two-year rent freeze, said the Government's measures 'will, in the round, cause rents to increase again'. The proposals last week 'very nearly caused a run on the rental market'. He added it is 'very clear what the priority is here because investors will not be negatively impacted by these changes but renters will'. Under the proposals 'we will return to a situation in this country whereby people will be evicted from their properties because they cannot pay the rent'. Social Democrats spokesman Rory Hearne said it is 'quite a cruel move' to give renters the RPZ for six or seven months 'and then rip it away from them', next March. When their tenancy ends or the landlord decides to sell the property in six years' time 'they will face market rents and a rental system and a housing market that will be even more unaffordable'. He said 'the Government is taking a gamble, but it is gambling with renters' lives, betting on the likelihood that the free market and the investor funds will come through for renters'. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman called on the Minister to tie rent caps to the property and not just to the lease. In this way 'students returning to the same room are not charged new market rent each year'. There should be a legal definition for student tenancy 'allowing academic year leases to be regulated in line with their unique situation'. These are not 'radical asks' but 'practical adjustments that would make this legislation better'.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Bill passed extending Rent Pressure Zones across country
The Dáil has agreed to pass a piece of legislation without a vote which will extend Rent Pressure Zones across the country. The bill will go to the Seanad tomorrow and it is expected to be signed into law by President Michael D Higgins on Friday. The Government rejected amendments to the bill which were tabled by Sinn Féin and Labour. The legislation will mean that all current renters will be covered by a 2% annual rent hike cap once the bill is signed by the President. Wider changes to the rent rules will be introduced next March and this will require further legislation to be passed in autumn. Opposition parties have stated that they will not support these more extensive rent reforms which will allow landlords to reset rents to market rates every six years. Minister for Housing James Browne has said that renters will get greater security of tenure as part of the changes. Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin earlier described the legislation as "an utter shambles" and "utterly defensible". He told the Dáil that he has never witnessed such a "haphazard, ramshackle, back of the envelope" approach to a crucial policy, adding that it is a "farce". Minister of State at the Department of Housing Christopher O'Sullivan, who introduced the bill, said that the Government was moving fast because tenants need protection and this will be delivered by extending RPZs. "This is an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation," he added, claiming that it would create certainty, stability and clarity for the sector. Mr O'Sullivan added that "this will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West. However, Mr Ó Broin described the Government move as an "assault on renters" who "will be the losers". Ministers, he added, "scrambled around" to add references to students to the bill after failing to mention them in any advance briefing. "It is the Fianna Fáil rent hike bill," the deputy said, adding that the party's solution to rising rents "is to keep those rents rising". Mr Ó Broin also said that the move amounts to the dismantling of Rent Pressure Zones and "rips the heart out of the RPZs". He claimed that "in the best case scenario" the proposals will create a modest increase of (housing) supply in high-value areas "and everybody else will be left behind". Security of tenure changes will benefit a small group of tenants, Mr Ó Broin conceded, but said they will create more complicated and difficult rules that can be exploited by rogue landlords and will lead accidental landlords to make mistakes. All this will add to the workload of the already overloaded Residential Tenacies Board (RTB), he said. Mr O'Sullivan defended the bill, claiming the Government is aiming to strike a balance in its approach. "We aim to attract investment, but we know that tenants deserve and need fair treatment," he said. The minister noted that a larger landlord - with four or more tenancies - cannot end a tenancy created on or after March 2026 via a no-fault eviction. "No-fault evictions will be restricted to smaller landlords and outlawed for larger landlords," Mr O'Sullivan said. The minister added that rent resetting would be allowed only in specific circumstances. "This will come as a great sigh of relief" to many of his constituents in Cork South-West, the minister added. Minister of State John Cummins said that 17% of tenancies are outside RPZs. He emphasised the role of enforcement and noted that the RTB has launched "several in-depth investigations into serious, deliberate and repeated breaches of rental law". The board investigated 16,052 tenancies for excessive rent hikes and €70,911 was returned to tenants following 114 compliance interventions, he added. Connolly accuses Govt of normalising homelessness "We have turned language on its head", Independent TD Catherine Connolly said of the Government's claim to protect renters, when the reailty is that it is normalising insecurity and homelessness. "We are in serious trouble as a republic. More and more in Ireland, there's a lack of faith in anything the Government says," she told the Dáil. "We stopped building [houses] in 2009," Ms Connolly said, adding that the housing crisis is a consequence of repeated decisions made by successive governments which treated housing as a product and simply backed the market. She said that her office is struggling to manage the level of housing problems that constituents are presenting with.
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Minister accuses opposition of whipping up 'false anger' on Rent Pressure Zones
The opposition has been accused of 'whipping up anger' and creating 'confusion' over the Government's plan to reform Rent Pressure Zones. It follows suggestions that the Government will be 'jacking up the rents for tens of thousands of hard-pressed renters from March 2026 onwards'. Legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) nationwide was expedited through the Dáil on Wednesday and will be rushed through the Seanad on Thursday in a bid to get the legislation signed into law by the end of the week. The change will mean that no landlord across the country will be able to increase rent by more than two per cent, or the level of inflation, whichever is less. A new regime will come into place from next March, which will create six-year tenancies. Once these are up, or if a tenant leaves the property voluntarily, landlords can increase their rents to market rates. Housing Minister James Browne confirmed on Tuesday that rents for students who live in private rental accommodation for the duration of an academic year will be able to be increased if they leave the property voluntarily. The RPZ plans were torn to shreds by the opposition, with Sinn Féin's housing spokesman branding the announcements in recent weeks as 'utter shambles'. He said: 'In my entire time in Dáil Éireann, I have never witnessed a more haphazard, ramshackle, back-of-the-envelope process for putting in place widespread reforms that are going to impact tens of thousands of people. 'While I understand Ministers and Ministers of State have to come here and defend this farce, privately they must be absolutely reeling. 'The credibility of the Government's housing policy has once again been exposed as an absolute sham. 'Only five months into the job, the Minister's own credibility has been badly damaged.' He continued: 'Let us call it by its name. It is the Fianna Fáil rent hike Bill. This is Micheál Martin, who initiated this process and pulls the strings of his Minister, jacking up the rents for tens of thousands of hard-pressed renters from March 2026 onwards.' In response, Minister Browne accused the opposition of He said: 'What the opposition are trying to do, in a really dishonest way, is trying to deliberately create confusion and to whip up false anger among people, to whip up anger among people for pure political ends, putting politics before people. 'It's such a dishonest way to approach things, so it is.' Minister Browne further said that while there had been a lot of criticism, the opposition had failed to put forward alternative solutions.
