Drop of more than 20,000 tenancies in Ireland last year as landlords ‘flee the market’

There was a drop of more than 20,000 in the number of private tenancies registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) last year as landlords continued “to flee the market”, a real estate body has said.

The RTB’s annual report for 2023 reported 223,979 private registered tenancies, a decrease of 22,474 on the previous year.

A possible cause of the drop is the removal of historical tenancies from the register, said the RTB. However, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (Ipav) argued it was down to landlords exiting the market.

Ipav said the decrease “confirms what agents are continuing to see throughout the country” and points to likely increased pressure on the market due to a shortage of properties.

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“Market intelligence suggests that private landlords are continuing to exit what has become a two-tier market between those who can apply market rents and those who as a result of Rent Pressure Zone legislation find their situation is non-viable financially,” said IPAV chief executive Pat Davitt.

He argued that rent pressure zone (RPZ) legislation has resulted in “unintended consequences”, namely private landlords “fleeing the market”. He said the measure should have instead been a short-term provision while supply caught up.

“The longer the legislation is left in place the more serious the consequences, as much research points to,” he said.

Separately, the RTB received 9,908 dispute resolution applications, 53 per cent of which were lodged by tenants, according to its annual report. Some 30 per cent of disputes concerned rent arrears and overholding, while almost one-fifth (18 per cent) concerned the validity of a notice of termination. A further 17 per cent of related to breaches of a landlord’s obligations.

Based on the outcomes of those disputes, 359 enforcement orders were carried out for those who did not comply with the original order. Some 57 per cent of enforcement order applications were lodged by tenants.

Meanwhile, 82 investigations into potential improper conduct were approved by the RTB, 60 per cent of which were spurred by complaints from the public. Among those, 45 concerned non-registration and 25 concerned rent being raised above the allowed amount. A further 15 investigations were for false or misleading notices of termination.

As a result of the investigations, 85 sanctions were issued, some of which covered more than one allegation of improper conduct. The majority (67) of sanctions were for breach of RPZ regulations.

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More than €64,000 was paid in sanctions by landlords last year while more than €88,700 of overpaid rent was returned to tenants. More than €435,000 in overpaid rent has been returned to tenants since 2019.