Won't somebody think of the stretched landlords?
RTÉ's Prime Time reported a story on Thursday night about two women who live side by side in Tubbercurry in Sligo.
Neighbours Mary Loftus and Anna Gallagher both live in houses owned by the same landlord are were recently informed that their respective rents will rise by €600 per month.
Rent on Loftus' four-bedroom house will increase from €880 to €1,500 a month. Gallagher's rent, which is for a three-bedroom home, is increasing from €800 to €1,400 a month.
So how can a landlord increase rent by so much in one go?
In Rent Pressure Zones in Ireland, rents cannot be increased by more than 4% per annum.
Rent Pressure Zones are located in parts of the country where rents are highest and rising, and where households have the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation.
However, Tubbercurry is not a Rent Pressure Zone, so the landlord is entitled to increase the rent to a "market rate" once a lease has been in place for 24 months.
How did the landlord demonstrate the market rate?
A landlord can prove the market rate by showing evidence of other rents in the area which are at a similar rate.
Luckily, the landlord in question
had three other properties in the same estate which charged rates at similar to what Mary Loftus and Anna Gallagher's rent was rising to.
In short, because the landlord was able to demonstrate that he was charging this rate in his other houses, he was able to raise both of their rents by €600 in one sweep.
You can watch the episode of Prime Time on the RTÉ Player
here.
