Spiralling rent costs has seen Laois added to new control zones announced last night by the Government.
Large urban areas of Laois are among 19 new locations in eleven counties across the country which are being added to the rent pressure zones.
The policy is designed to restrict rent increases to a maximum of 4 per cent per annum.
They were first introduced in December 2016 in a bid to curb escalating rents in Dublin and Cork and were extended to include Galway city and other towns in the greater Dublin catchment in 2017.
Other commuter towns such as Bray, Wicklow town, Drogheda, Navan and parts of Limerick city were later added before this most significant expansion of the rent controls in 19 new places.
Portlaoise, Portarlington and Graiguecullen are now included and this latest expansion of the rent restrictions means that 65% of rented accommodation across the country is now covered by the rent pressure zones (RPZs) designation.
The announcement has received a mixed response locally, with auctioneers remaining sceptical of any likely benefits of the measures.
Other towns around the country which have just been added along with those in Laois are Ardee, Arklow, Athlone, Dundalk, Fermoy, Gorey, Kells, Kilkenny, Trim and Waterford City.
Announcing the new areas, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said: “Rents are still too high in some parts of the country and are still rising unsustainably.”
The Minister also revealed that he had been under pressure to introduce a rent freeze, but he declined to do so as it can have the side effect of also reducing supply of accommodation.
The Minister has been under constant criticism over rocketing levels of rent, the delays in providing additional supply of new homes or rental accommodation, the slow rate and delays in providing social housing and the high levels of homelessness.
Laois county councillors have repeatedly drawn attention to the income threshold traps that make it increasingly difficult for individuals or families to save the deposit required to qualify for a mortgage while at the same time paying high rents.
The inclusion of large parts of Laois in the rent control zones has been well received by local TD and Minister Charlie Flanagan.
“I welcome the news that two out of three electoral areas in County Laois have been designated as rent pressure zones. I am acutely aware of the high level of unsustainable rents in the county and have addressed this issue with my colleague and Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy on a number of occasions.
“I am pleased that under new designations, 19 new areas, including those in Laois, will now come under the 4% annual cap.
“It is also welcome that Minister Murphy has commenced other parts of the Residential Tenancies Act 2019, which makes it a criminal offence for landlords to implement rent increase that contravene the law; providing powers to the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB) to investigate and administratively sanction landlords who engage in improper conduct including non-compliance with the rent increase restriction in the RPZs and allowing the RTB to initiate an investigation without the need for a complaint to me made,” stated Minister Flanagan.
However, Matt Dunne the vastly experienced Portarlington based auctioneer had a different take on the latest rent control measures.
“It’s just another nail in the coffin of the ordinary Joe Soap who has traditionally been the backbone of the rental market,” stated Matt, as he feels the additional bureaucracy, red tape and regulations are all stacked against the compliant landlord with a second property as their pension plan.
“All that combined with a tax rate of 52 cents in the Euro and it’s just not worth the hassle to be a landlord.
“The deck is stacked in terms of those tenants who don’t pay their rent and very often it’s impossible to get a property vacated if you want to sell it on,” he outlines some of the other issues in the sector.
Matt Dunne insists that the problems in the sector are far more complex than just rents.
“You’d want to be a brain surgeon now to qualify for a mortgage so people are being forced to rent as they can’t get a loan.
“On top of that HAP (housing assistance payment) payments are distorting the market and pushing up rents, so it’s all self-perpetuating, while supply and demand is not adequately being addressed.
“Much of this is down to the Government itself and its own policies. Security of tenure is not a big issue down the country, most decent landlords are not the problem and they only want their rent,” says Matt.
Tony Brown of the Portlaoise based Property Properly company reiterates much of the same issues as they see it on the ground on a daily basis.
“This is another bolt from the blue, no advance notice and no consultation with the likes of us and we’re dealing with tenants and landlords on a daily basis and can see what the real problems are,” explains Tony.
He too cites the HAPs payments from the Government as being largely to blame for artificially inflating rents as in some cases tenants are having three-quarters of their rent being paid for by the State.
This in turn penalises those who are working so hard and paying their own rent while trying to save for their own home according to Tony Brown.
Tony also points out that the system is loaded in favour of problem tenants who don’t pay rent or leave a terrible mess behind them and yet it can take over a year to have them vacate a property.
“You could write down the rights of a landlord on the back of a cigarette box, the whole system is gone so complex and yet the Rental Tenancy Board won’t accept an email notification in this day and age and as regards rents it’s the HAP payments that are driving up rents and that’s the Government itself,” outlines Tony.
All local property industry sources confirm that houses that were once available to rent for about €600 per month are now gone to double that and over €1,000 per month is now the going rate for a 3-bed. A 4-bed unfurnished in Potlaoise is now being quoted for €1,400 per month rent.
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