Dublin’s lord mayor is calling on the Government to review recent legislation that banned future upward-only rent reviews to see if this legislation can be applied to existing leases.
Councillor Emer Costello hosted a meeting at the Mansion House today with representatives of the Grafton Street Traders, Dublin City Business Association, Dublin Business Improvement District and a number of councillors across the political spectrum.
The meeting was called to support traders who are facing upward-only rent reviews and who say their businesses are being seriously threatened by the spiralling rents.
The lord mayor said ‘it is imperative that we help keep the retailers in the city and keep the footfall high in the city. The city centre retailers are at the heart of the City and the City Council must act to protect the retail core of the City Centre.’
Councillor Costello added that 'the footfall in the Grafton Street and Henry Street area has fallen by 30% from the peak figures in late 2007. There are currently 22 units vacant in the Grafton Street area, with at least six of these on Grafton Street itself.'
The lord mayor is requesting a meeting with landlords to try to resolve this situation.
She said 'we have started a process to help resolve this very difficult situation and I suggest that rent reviews should be linked to the Consumer Price Index as a means to resolve this situation'.
