Ireland’s biggest private landlord, Ires Reit, has abandoned plans to hike rent at one of its developments in Sandyford, south Dublin, by as much as 25 per cent. It says it will now look to increase rent in line with controls for the area, at an annual rate of 4 per cent.

About 20 tenants of the landlord’s Maple development, which has 68 units, were issued with rent increase notices last week on the first anniversary of their tenancies, with proposed increases from between 20 and 25 per cent.

As the Maple is a new development, constructed post the introduction of rent controls in 2016, these units can be let at market rents and Ires Reit said they are not subject to Government-imposed rent controls that limit annual increases to 4 per cent in pressure zones.

The Maple was launched last summer, setting new rent highs for the area, coming on the market at €1,925 for a one-bed and €2,570 for a two-bed apartment. Some tenants of the development, which is at full occupancy, were told that their rents would rise to as much as €2,800 following the proposed rent hike, which was due to kick in on January 1st 2019.

However, following a demonstration outside the offices of the landlord by affected tenants, and engagement with the property company, Ires will now apply a lower rate of rent increase, of 4 per cent, at the development.

It’s understood that the change in policy followed an intervention by the property group’s chief executive, Margaret Sweeney.

Review the situation

With more tenancies at the development coming up for renewal over the coming months, a spokesman for Ires Reit said that they would review the situation going forward, but that the approach overall would be “to be reasonable”.

It is understood this means it will keep rent increases at The Maple in line with rent controls at 4 per cent, and this approach will also apply to its 100-plus units at Hampton Wood in Finglas.

These are also exempt from rent controls as they weren’t let prior to Ires’s purchase of the units earlier this year. Ires currently has a portfolio of some 2,608 properties across Dublin.

The proposed rent hikes in Sandyford come ahead of Budget 2019, with beleaguered renters and would-be home buyers hoping for some relief. Latest figures from Daft.ie show that rent controls appear to be having little impact on the market, with rents up by 13.4 per cent in the year to June 2018.