The government\u2019s shambolic announcement of rent reforms has created mass confusion and will leave tenants open to exploitation, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than provide certainty for renters, the government\u2019s pathetic attempt at rent reform has turned into a complete omnishambles that will do nothing but create more confusion and chaos in an already dysfunctional rental market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a clear sign that the government is making it up as it goes along, we now learn that it had no legislation prepared to extend Rent Pressure Zones. This legislation will now have to be fast-tracked before the summer recess to allow for the nationwide extension of RPZs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis indicates the government\u2019s lack of care and understanding of the implications for renters of what they are doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Housing must extend RPZs to the entire country immediately to avoid landlords hiking rents and prevent evictions between now and March next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should also reverse his decision to allow rents to rise between tenancies and reinstate the two per cent cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that the new measures are gutting the rent regulation aspect of RPZs between tenancies. This is what landlords and investor funds wanted and it will lead to an overall increase in rents, as outlined by the Housing Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn relation to new no fault eviction protections, questions remain as it\u00a0is unclear if the measure of restricting grounds for eviction for smaller landlords includes the sale of a property. This needs to be clarified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are calling on the government to extend no fault evictions to all landlords, regardless of the number of properties they own. The claim up to now was that it was unconstitutional, but it is clear now it can be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother issue is the lack of funding for the Residential Tenancies Board. If it is not sufficiently resourced, how can we expect the RTB to effectively police or enforce additional protections for renters?<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite widespread criticism of the new measures, the Taoiseach and Housing Minister continue to deny that their convoluted plan is fundamentally designed to enable future rent hikes that will only benefit landlords and international investment funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, their free-market theory that supply will eventually bring down rents at some unspecified point in the future flies in the face of reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 12, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government\u2019s shambolic announcement of rent reforms has created mass confusion and will leave tenants open to exploitation, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said: \u201cRather than provide certainty for renters, the government\u2019s pathetic attempt at rent reform has turned into a complete omnishambles that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n