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THE WATCHDOG FOR the rental sector has begun examining recent attempts by major landlord Ires Reit to add an extra €150-200 every month to tenants’ bills by charging them for use of their building’s common areas.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has written to Ires Reit over the practice following reporting in The Journal.
The attempts by the country’s largest private sector landlord to impose the fees has sparked concern, with some advocates and tenants fearing that some renters may sign up to the fees due to concerns over their relatively minor bargaining power.
In a statement to The Journal, the RTB said that it is committed to using its “full powers to investigate and sanction landlords” where they believe any breaches may have taken place.
Ires Reit has been contacted on multiple occasions but has so far declined to comment since The Journal began reporting on the practice at an apartment block near North Circular Road in Dublin.
Angry tenants have queried whether Ires Reit is attempting to evade rent increases outside of Rental Pressure Zone (RPZ) rules. The regulations ban landlords from increasing rent by more than 2% annually.
The landlord – which has up to 3,700 apartments in Dublin alone and recently reported annual revenue of €85 million – would receive up to an extra €2,400 extra across the year per tenant if successful with the charges.
A spokesperson for the RTB said it was treating the reports with “utmost concern” and warned that landlords can face a combined cost of up to €30,000 for each individual breach of the specific rental sector laws.
“As the regulator of Ireland’s rental sector, the Residential Tenancies Board treats all reports of potential non-compliance with rental law and Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) rules with the utmost concern,” the RTB spokesperson said.
“Following recent media reports on the potential introduction of common area fees in an apartment block in Dublin, the RTB has written to the landlord in question to remind them of their obligations under rental law, and to request additional information on this case.”
The spokesperson added: “The RTB is committed to using our full powers to investigate and sanction landlords where we believe there has been a breach of rental law. This can result in a sanction of up to €15,000 and €15,000 in costs for each individual breach.
“Tenants also have a right to bring a dispute against their landlord where they believe they have failed to follow RPZ rules. This can result in a landlord paying up to €20,000 in damages, in addition to returning any overpaid rent to the tenant.”
It is not known how widespread the practice is, although The Journal has been informed of the attempted charges for common areas being attempted in another Ires Reit building.
To date, the landlord has declined to comment on whether it has sought to implement the charge at any properties aside from The School Yard.
However, Ires Reit did try and impose the fees on one tenant of The School Yard last year, only for the landlord to later back down during mediation after the renter challenged it at the RTB.
Two months after agreeing to drop pursuit of this tenant, it began trying to impose it on people living at the same building.
Rental sector sources have said a similar practice was seen in recent years where attempts were made to impose fresh charges on tenants’ leases by charging them for carparking.
In some cases, landlords can justify the practice if they can provide receipts for what the fresh charges pay for – such as in the case of bin charges.
The practice has seen it receive criticism from renters and politicians from Sinn Féin, Labour and the Green Party.
Among those criticising Ires Reit were Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin, who said earlier this week that he had contacted the chief executive of the RTB to commence an investigation.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe – who is a TD for Dublin Central, where Ires Reit’s School Yard apartments are located – told reporters earlier this week that he was aware of the issue and said the government wanted to balance an examination of Rental Pressure Zones while “protecting the rights and needs of tenants”.
So much for reform of government and in sitting Dáil days? Promises promises Enda…
Ps I know politicians should get holidays but two months during a financial crisis is a joke. Where’s all our promised legislation on upward only rent reviews, changes in bankruptcy laws etc? You take a break when you earn in, not because you are entitled to it Enda
Plus ça change
The most disturbing thing about that piece is the fact that Leonard Cohen writes poetry.
It’s also weird that a journalist thinks that a Euro crisis is something our lot would be involved with. Oh, I need a holiday!
Could that mentioned concept of a “new euro” actually come to pass? This is an actual question, I mean if there’s a chance there’ll be a euro for the more stable countries and one for the PIGS of Europe then what is the point in us staying with the euro rather than reinstating our old currency…? I thought a strength of the euro was that it was tied to the value of the mark, but if that value is taken away from the currency we would use, where’s the incentive to stay?
Anyone else remember the furore from Fine Gael and Labour in 2009 when the Dáil wasn’t recalled?
I vaguely remember Enda & Gilmore having a bit of a wobbly when the Dáil wasn’t recalled at the start of the Crisis a while back… No?
Cheap headline…
Life goes on for everybody in the dail.maybe because they earn more money in a year then most people earn in a lifetime.
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