Limerick landlords ‘hiking rents after RPZ designation’

LANDLORDS across the city have increased their rents following the designation of City East as a pressure zone, a local election candidate says.

Areas like Castletroy, Singland and Southill are now part of the so-called Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ), which means landlords can only increase the tenant’s rent by a maximum of 4% annually.

However, City North and City West are not subject to these controls.

Housing campaigner Anne Cronin says she is meeting families daily who have faced steep rental hikes as landlords prepare for the possibility of controls coming to their area.

“Each evening in City North, I come across at least one family or young person renting that has a tale to tell about the horrors of renting,” Ms Cronin said. “Just last week a woman told me that a couple of days after the rent pressure zone announcement came into effect in Castletroy, her landlord contacted her to advise that her rent was going to increase from €900 to €1,200. This women who along with her partner works full-time and has two children, outlined to me that the rent combined with the cost of childcare each day, means that she and her family are barely getting by. This is a direct consequence of the Minister’s shortsighted view to make one side of the city a RPZ and not the other two.”

Ms Cronin, who works for housing charity Novas, believes families are leaving the city due to what she describes as “unfair and insecure rent conditions”.

“We need the whole of Limerick City declared an RPZ. Otherwise we will continue to see the sharp increases in rent in the areas within the city, which are left behind,” she added.