Harris defends ‘swift’ timeline for nationwide rent controls

Tanaiste Simon Harris has defended the Government’s timeline to “swiftly” extend rent controls nationwide.

It comes after he signalled to the Dail that emergency legislation would be brought forward next week to impose rent caps to a fifth of tenancies not already in a rent pressure zone (RPZ).

The Department of Housing said on Tuesday that RPZs would change to a “nationwide rent control system” in draft laws to be brought forward “in the coming weeks”.

The Taoiseach said he expected the nationwide rent controls to be passed by the Dail summer recess in July.

“The first part will be extending it nationally and that should happen very quickly, because it’s a short Bill,” Micheal Martin, the Taoiseach, said on Thursday.

Simon Harris said it was his understanding for “quite a number of days” that RPZs would be extended nationwide by the summer.

“Yes it was. Certainly it was my understanding for quite a number of days, because it’s very important we move swiftly in relation to this,” he said.

Asked why the legislation was not ready as part of the major rent announcement by Government on Tuesday, Mr Harris said this was “a huge body of work”.

RPZs apply to areas of high demand and cap rent increases at 2% per year.

The RPZ system, which was due to expire at the end of the year, will in effect be extended nationwide from March and see all existing tenancies in Ireland come under a 2% cap or inflation, whichever is lower.

Rent increases in new apartment developments will be capped by inflation and not the 2% cap in an attempt to boost Ireland’s housing supply.

New six-year-minimum rolling tenancies will be on offer for the first time from March 1 2026.

At the end of the six-year tenancy, the rent can be “put back to the market”, with the first series of rent “resets” under the reforms taking place in 2032.

Large landlords, defined as having four or more tenancies, will be banned from carrying out no-fault evictions for tenancies created from March 1 2026.

“There’s a large piece of legislative work that needs to be done around the broader package that the Minister for Housing (James Browne) has brought to Government and received approval for,” Mr Harris said, speaking in Co Down on Friday.

“But there’s also a need to move in the here and now to do two things: firstly, to make sure that there’s clarity that the rent pressure zones will extend because, as you know, they’re currently due to expire at the end of December.

“But, secondly, to extend them to the counties where we’ve indicated we wish to extend them to.”

He said there were 11 counties in Ireland that will benefit from the RPZ extension.

“So, we intend to have proposals at Cabinet next week that will see the Minister for Housing bring forward an interim bill, emergency legislation, call it what you will, that I think, with the assistance of the opposition – who I believe will assist on this matter – we should seek to swiftly pass through the Oireachtas.”

Speaking on RTE Radio later, he said: “Every week, this Government is going to be taking big and bold decisions on housing, this is the latest one.

“There’ll be further proposals at Cabinet, I believe, in other areas regarding housing next week.

“I’m very satisfied that the legislation James Browne will bring forward next week will extend protections to more renters than ever before in Ireland and I think that’s a good day’s work.”

The Government’s action strays from a Housing Commission recommendation to introduce a system which would have pegged increases to a certain percentage above regularly reviewed “reference rent” of local dwellings of a similar quality.

Mr Harris said that system “would have actually seen existing tenants’ rents increase”.