Massive Changes To Irish Rental Regulation May Come Into Effect With This New Government Proposal

Under a new government plan, landlords will only be able to increase residential rents every two years and they must be able to justify the raise by making comparisons with other local rental properties.

The proposal is the result of talks between Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly who are currently seeking solutions to Ireland's housing crisis.

The new plan would abolish annual rent reviews, allowing for changes in rent to occur only every two years. This condition would continue for the next four years, at which point annual reviews may once again be permitted.

The package aims to encourage the development of smaller apartments in cities, with the loosening of planning stantards making this possible.

According The Irish Times, the plan also seeks to harmonise planning standards across the country to bring “local authorities back to a national level”.

A spokesman for Taoiseach Enda Kenny said,

There is confidence that the package will boost supply of rental accommodation and housing more generally, which is the only way to slow rapidly rising rents.

If this proposal were to come into effect, it would mean that anyone who had their rent increased in the summer of this year could not have their rent increased again until the summer of 2017.

The housing plan is due to go to the Cabinet next Tuesday.