Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021

Amendment of section 19 of Act of 2004

6. Section 19 of the Act of 2004 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “Subject to subsections (4A) and (5)” for “Subject to subsection (5)”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (4):

“(4A) Notwithstanding subsection (4), and subject to subsection (5), in setting the rent under a tenancy of a dwelling in a rent pressure zone in respect of which the landlord serves a notice under section 22 on or after the coming into operation of section 6 of the Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021

(a) an amount of rent shall not be provided for that increases the rent last set by more than any rent increase calculated in accordance with subsection (4B), or

(b) an amount of rent shall not be provided for that increases the rent last set where a calculation is made, in accordance with subsection (4B), that no increase in the rent last set has occurred.

(4B) Any increase in the rent last set shall be calculated by—

(a) calculating as a percentage any difference between the HICP value that applied on the date the rent was last set and the HICP value that applies on the new date, and

(b) applying the amount of the percentage calculated under paragraph (a) to the rent last set.

(4C) The Board shall—

(a) establish and maintain a rent pressure zone calculator to calculate any increase in rent in a rent pressure zone in accordance with the method set out in subsection (4B), and

(b) publish and keep up to date a table of HICP values published by the Central Statistics Office.

(4D) The Minister, for the purposes of subsections (4A) to (4C), may prescribe—

(a) the means by which the rent pressure zone calculator referred to in subsection (4C)(a) shall operate to accurately calculate any increase in rent in a rent pressure zone by applying the HICP values to the rent,

(b) the information to be furnished in the table referred to in subsection (4C)(b),

(c) the form and manner of publication by the Board of that calculator and table, and

(d) an index or indices, containing data corresponding to HICP values, as may be published by the Central Statistics Office to be used for the purposes of the calculation under subsection (4B).”,

(c) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “Subsections (4) and (4A) do not apply—” for “Subsection (4) does not apply—”,

(d) in subsection (6), by the substitution of “subsections (3), (4) and (4A)” for “subsections (3) and (4)”,

(e) in subsection (6A), by the substitution of “subsection (4) or, as the case may be, (4A)” for “subsection (4) ”,

(f) in subsection (7), by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘HICP values’ means the values contained in the most recent data available monthly in the All-Items Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices in relation to Ireland and published monthly by the Central Statistics Office in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/7921 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on harmonised indices of consumer prices and the house price index, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 2494/95;

‘new date’ shall be the date of publication by the Board under subsection (4C) of the table of HICP values that occurs most recently prior to the service of a notice under section 22 by the landlord on the tenant;”.

1 OJ No. L135, 24.5.2016