NINE LANDLORDS HAVE been sanctioned by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), with fines over €2,000 being issued by the board.

The RTB announced the nine sanctions today, leading to a total of 38 sanctions issued by the regulatory body since it was given investigatory powers in 2019.

In November, The Journal reported that there had been “hundreds” of investigations launched by the RTB, but only 29 sanctions were issued up to that point, with Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan calling the system “weak”.

According to the RTB, there are over 440 investigations underway at present.

The body has said that it is currently prioritising investigations surrounding allegations of landlords breaching Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) regulations. 

Currently, in an RPZ, rents cannot be increased higher than 2% per year.

RPZs are also tied to general inflation but due to the high rise in inflation in recent months, the current cap is 2%.

Of the nine sanctions released today, eight of them are related to RPZ regulation breaches.

According to the RTB, the nine landlords opted to acknowledge the alleged improper conduct at the beginning of the investigation. The RTB said that this was then taken into consideration when deciding on a final sanction.

Four of the landlords received a caution, while three received a caution and a fine. Just two landlords were only fined following the investigations.

The highest fine issued by the RTB to one of the sanctioned landlords was €2,684.

The RTB has said that almost €38,000 has been paid by landlords due to sanctions, while over €300,000 in overcharged rent has been returned to tenants.

Niall Byrne, the Director of the RTB, said that landlords who do breach rules will be sanctioned by the RTB.

“While the vast majority of landlords work to ensure good relations with their tenants and to comply with rental law, those who fail to observe the law and who breach the legal rights of tenants will be held accountable by the RTB,” said Byrne.

“Rent Pressure Zones are in place as a protective measure for tenants during the current housing crisis and is important that the RTB is actively working to ensure there is compliance with this important public interest measure.”