Changes to rent pressure zones (RPZs), including their possible removal, has been signalled by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Mr Martin said on Sunday that the Government would explore an alternative to RPZs between now and the end of the year when they are due to expire.
He said the Government was looking at changes to the way the rent cap system is structured. “We’ve got time because the rent pressure zones expire at the end of the year.
“We have time to see if we can develop an alternative system which protects renters but also enables people to have a clear, stable environment in which to invest,” Mr Martin told the This Week programme on RTÉ.
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RPZs were introduced in Ireland in late 2016 and have been designed to cap rent increases in areas where there is high demand for housing and for rental homes.
They were originally introduced in Dublin and Cork but now apply to urban areas in 17 of the 26 counties. Where an area has been designated a RPZ, rent increases cannot be greater than the rate of inflation, or 2 per cent, whichever is the lower.
The Taoiseach said the reactionary approach to the rental market had been a huge problem as there was no security of the environment for investors. “They don’t know whether it will change from year to year. That has to stop, and that has to change,” he said.
[ Number of registered landlords up by 5.7% in a yearOpens in new window ]
He said the Housing Commission had talked about a reference rents system and the Government would examine that proposal. He said the alternative was not necessarily a “crude change” to RPZs.
Asked whether those changes might lead to rent increases, Mr Martin said what was needed most was stability around the environment governing investment that “won’t start changing from year to year for political reasons”.
He said that the Government would conduct a fundamental review of housing policy, with a particular emphasis on incentivising the private sector. “What’s emerging is, is that the private sector rental area is deteriorating,” he said.
He said that from his discussions with senior officials it was clear to him that the State will need to “pivot more strongly to getting private sector investment into the market.
“The Government is spending huge amounts of money in housing, record levels of spending. The State can’t do it all on its own, and we have to be honest about that,” he said.
He said: “I believe it will entail politically very difficult decisions.”
In the RTÉ interview, Mr Martin also confirmed there would be no cost-of-living package in next October’s Budget as there have been in the last three budgets.
He said that inflation had fallen significantly. He said that changes in social protection and tax structures would help people but there would be no energy credits this winter.
Mr Martin said he expected to be invited by US president Donald Trump to the White House. He was highly critical of the call of Labour leader Ivana Bacik for him to boycott the Shamrock Ceremony in light of Mr Trump’s comments about removing its population from Gaza.
“I was surprised by the (comments),” he said. “The Labour Party is moving to a more reckless and irresponsible position in the opposition benches.
“I have a broader duty as Taoiseach to protect the economy, to protect people’s livelihoods in this country.
“The relationship with the United States is not about any one President. It’s been a long standing one. It is older than this State itself. It’s fraternal. The economic relationship is a powerful relationship, which we cannot ignore.
And then there’s cultural and strong family connections as well. So I will, of course, respond positively to an invitation from President Trump,” he said.
The Government will also proceed to develop a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage facility off the coast of Ireland. The LNG issue became a point of conflict in the last Coalition, with Green Party members strongly opposing any such development.
Mr Martin said that the Government would proceed with LNG development. “We will have to have an energy facility of some kind. In the last year, the Department of Energy was looking at a floating LNG facility. The Government will be progressing that ...
“From a security perspective, our economy depends on energy security,” he said.
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