Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has warned that Ireland is heading for a fresh surge in homelessness following the release of new figures by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
The RTB’s Q2 2025 Directors Update revealed sharp increases in both rental costs and eviction notices across the country, prompting concern from housing campaigners and opposition politicians.
According to the report, average rents for new tenants rose by 5.55% in the past 12 months, while existing tenants saw increases of 4.4%. This comes despite rent controls being in place under the Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) legislation.
Most strikingly, the RTB confirmed that nearly 5,000 eviction notices were issued between April and June this year. Almost 60% of those were landlords seeking to sell their properties, underlining the scale of withdrawal by smaller investors from the rental market.
Deputy Ó Broin said the figures showed that government policy was “failing renters” and warned that thousands of families now faced the prospect of losing their homes.
“When the government announced their controversial RPZ reforms earlier this year, Sinn Féin warned that this would lead to a rise in eviction notices from landlords. This now appears to be the case,” he said.
The Dublin Mid-West TD accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of worsening housing insecurity, claiming their policies had created a situation where “renters face even higher costs and even greater uncertainty.”
Ó Broin is calling for an immediate reversal of the government’s RPZ reforms and the reintroduction of an emergency ban on no-fault evictions, which was lifted in 2023.
He said such measures were essential if the government wished to avoid “a significant increase in homelessness in the months to come.”
The RTB’s data follows repeated warnings from housing charities about the pressures faced by renters, particularly in rural counties where rent inflation is now running above 10% in some areas.
The regulator also highlighted that corporate landlords — those owning more than 100 tenancies — now make up almost 14% of the market, while smaller landlords continue to exit.
Housing experts have suggested that the rise in institutional landlords is contributing to both higher rents and insecurity, with investors able to demand higher returns while traditional landlords sell up.
Government ministers have yet to respond formally to the RTB’s latest update, but Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has previously defended RPZ reforms, saying they were designed to bring “balance and sustainability” to the sector.
For Ó Broin and Sinn Féin, however, the figures represent proof that government policy is driving up both costs and homelessness.
“The time for half-measures is over. Renters cannot afford another year of spiralling prices and relentless insecurity,” he said.
