Dublin Tenancies Hit With Rent Rises Above RPZ Limit
Thousands of Dublin tenancies are hit with rent rises greater than the RPZ limit. The rental pressure zone (RPZ) rates are not supposed to increase by more than 2 per cent per year.
The decision straight away breaches rental cap rules in the region for which the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) is also in denial. The Board is softly refusing that it ruled against the RPZ limit policy.
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It was later revealed that it commissioned the landlords who were increasing the rent rates according to their own will and were still allowed to breach the rental cap for the Dublin tenancies.
The rent limits are applicable to 83 per cent of the country. The list of the regions would now include County Cork and Galway under the rental pressure zones.
A study was generated by the Residential Tenancies Board for looking into the rent rises matter and found that 26 per cent did not find the breach a good decision.
In addition, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) conducted research in which they looked at 153,000 properties for the charges they incurred for the last two years in rents.
The results of ESRI research regarding Dublin tenancies rent increment
The results showed that one in four of the properties faced a rent increment of more than 2 per cent each year, accounting for up to 40,000 properties. Although some properties were not in the rental pressure zone, they were still being charged illegally.
Another surprising fact came out that more than 10,000 sitting tenants had to pay rent rises of more than 8 per cent each year, despite having their rental agreements inspected. The rent rise for tenants sitting in non-rental pressure zones is even greater, the study disclosed.
There is a discrepancy in the registration of the records for the tenants. The registration details were recorded by the landlords to the Residential Tenancies Board whereas the landlords’ own details were missing in several areas.
On the other hand, the Residential Tenancies Board saved its own side by saying that increasing annual rent by more than 2 per cent does not indicate non-compliance with the RPZ limit rule.
The State regulator wanted to curb the matter by suggesting that there could be an element of rounding up for the rent rise figures in the mentioned regions.
The landlords might have been putting an increment pressure due to cumulative rises that were not recorded previously but are now noted as higher-than-allowed rent rises, the regulator explained.
Another explanation could be due to the refurbishment work for the rental properties for which extra costs were incurred and now landlords had to adjust their expenses within the new charges. If a greater amount of work was required for the property renovation, they are allowed to charge more than 2 per cent rental rises.
The rental index of the first three months of the running year was the time when tenancies had to pay rent rises of 6 per cent, which was considerably higher than the last year. The national average now for the sitting tenant is €1,391 per month.
Rosemary Steen, the newly appointed director of the RTB stated that matters of non-compliance for rent rise are looked into carefully. They would not tolerate any injustice in the rental cap rules, she said. She assured that landlords would be asked to write the raised rental caps greater than the mentioned limit.
She added, “Where there is deliberate and ongoing non-compliance, we will be using our full powers to investigate and sanction non-compliant landlords”.
If RTB finds any landlord breaking the rules, a fine of €15,000 could be imposed directly, she clarified. Therefore, she denied that the Board is taking it easy on the landlord and promised to take the matters seriously if any person is caught not abiding by the rules.
