Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne has urged Minister for Housing James Browne not to proceed with what he calls “flawed” rental measures.
The gvovernment’s update to rent reforms kicks in on March 1st, and Hearne warned that the government’s policy, which allows for more large landlords to enter the rentral market, will only make Ireland’s chronic housing shortage worse.
The Dublin North-West TD was speaking after a report from daft.ie showed that market rents rose by 4.4% during 2025, an 80% increase from 2015.
Fewer than 1,800 homes were available to rent nationwide at the start of February, and in Dublin, the number of homes to rent is down annually by over one-third.
“This sad state of affairs is where we find ourselves before the government’s cruel rent hike legislation comes into force on March 1st – the measures will allow record rents to skyrocket even further for the benefit of investor funds and landlords,” Hearne warned.
Monthly rents for new tenancies will rise to between €2,500 and €3,000 each month in accordance with the government’s perception of ‘market rates’ – around €30,000 every year in after-tax income that tenants will be expected to pay, per Hearne’s research.
He said the rent reforms will lock even more people out of housing, including essential public sector workers “who keep our cities and towns ticking”
“The knock-on effect of this flawed move will be that public services degrade even further,” he said.
“What standard of living can be achieved when a massive proportion of a person’s income goes on rent, if they’re lucky enough to secure tenure amongst dwindling supply? The housing crisis has become utterly dystopian,” he stated.
“That’s before considering eye-watering energy and supermarket costs, the bare minimum required to keep the lights on and put food on the table – we are reaching new lows month after month,”
“The government is now faced with a choice: proceed with the rent changes outlined in the Residential Tenancies Bill and condemn renters to an even more hopeless future, or scrap the measures in the realisation that they will further perpetuate the housing emergency,.”
The Social Democrats housing spokesperson said, “this government, like the last, is failing to deliver on construction, supply and affordability – doubling down on that failure and committing to regressive policies instead of evidence-based solutions will only worsen the disaster we’re faced with.”
“I’m calling on the Minister for Housing to scrap the backwards rental measures due to come into force on March 1st and to open his eyes to progressive actions which would tackle housing shortage and affordability, such as the Social Democrats’ Homes for Ireland savings scheme and the creation of a state construction company.”