merrion street

Mr Eoghan Murphy, T.D., Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has welcomed the Residential Tenancies Board’s latest quarterly Rent Index Report for Q4 2017 which was published today (21 March, 2018), and the encouraging figures that show reductions in the rate of rental inflation across both national and Dublin rents.

Minister Murphy stated

“We are seeing essentially a slowdown in the quarterly growth rate in Dublin rents according to this index. New rents increased by only 1.1% towards the end of the year. All of Dublin is covered by rent restrictions and these have now been in place for 12 months. And so the year on year trend is also positive with Dublin rent inflation falling from 8% in 2016 to 5.2% in 2017. This is the lowest annual growth rate since 2013.”

This latest quarterly index provides evidence that the introduction of rent restrictions (Rent Pressure Zones) in December 2016 is having a positive effect on rent inflation.

Commenting further, Minister Murphy stated:

“The index numbers are positive regarding our RPZ measures, but we also have to acknowledge that quarterly data can show fluctuations and there is more work to be done to bed down these new measures. As previously indicated, I am taking further measures to reinforce their effectiveness, making it an offence to increase rents in contravention of the legislation and providing the RTB with the powers to investigate and prosecute such cases.”

This RTB report is the most accurate and authoritative report available in the rental sector, is based on regulatory data covering all new tenancies registered in the quarter, and is a joint collaboration between the RTB and the ESRI. The report uses rents actually paid and not rents sought, which is the basis for other market-based rent price indices.