Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has accused the Government of penalising renters through planned reforms to rent regulation, responding to new data from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

Citing the latest RTB report, he noted average rents rose by 5% in the year to September, while 5,405 eviction notices were issued in the third quarter, the highest level since the second quarter of 2023. According to the figures, that represents a 35% increase year-on-year and a 14% rise on the previous quarter.

Ó Broin also criticised changes to apartment design standards and a €640m VAT reduction for developers, and argued the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2024 would allow landlords to reset rents to the top of the market for new tenants from March 2026, undermining rent pressure zone protections and prompting increases at the beginning or end of new six-year tenancies.

Teachta Ó Broin said: "Rents and eviction notices continue to spiral upwards. In the year to September, new and existing rents are up 5%. Some counties are experiencing double digit inflation including Leitrim at 16%, Carlow at 15% and Longford at 14%.

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"An average new rental now costs €20,000 a year. In Dublin an average new rental is a staggering €27,000 a year.

"Existing rentals are not far behind with the state wide average now coming in at €17,000 a year and in Dublin at €23,000 a year.

"Meanwhile, eviction notices are at their highest since the second quarter of 2023, with 5,405 notices of termination issues between July and September of this year. This is 35% higher than in the same quarter last year and 14% higher than the second quarter this year.

"In response, the government has decided to punish renters even further. They have changed the design standards allowing developers to build smaller and darker flats. They are giving €640m of taxpayers money in a vat cut to developers who are already on site with apartment schemes that are viable and have builders. And now they intend to strip renters of the meager protection they have against even higher rip off rents.

"The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2024 will allow landlords of new tenants to reset the rent to the highest point of the market from March 2026. Many will have this rent hike imposed at the start of a new six year tenancy and all will have it imposed at the end of the six years.

"This means that, from March, tens of thousands of renters will see their rents rise – effectively wiping out the impact of the RPZs on rents over a decade.

"The government didn't have to do this. They could have increased and accelerated the delivery of social and affordable homes by Councils and Approved Housing Bodies. They could have supported SME builder-developers to deliver more good quality private homes for working people to buy.

"Instead they have chosen to punish renters, making them pay for a decade of failing Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy."