Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has said new figures from the Residential Tenancies Board show rents nationally rose 6.5% in the 12 months to June 2017.
Rents in Quarter 2 in Dublin rose 3.3%, compared to a decrease of 1.7% in the first three months of the year.
Mr Murphy has designated two local electoral areas - Drogheda, Co Louth, and Greystones, Co Wicklow - as Rent Pressure Zones.
He said both areas "have witnessed exceptional rent increases in four of the six quarters previous to Q2 of this year" and "also have an average rent that is above the national average".
Mr Murphy also said there are suspicions that some landlords may be using refurbishment as a ground to change tenancies or increase rent.
He said to combat this, the Department and the RTB are going to define what exactly constitutes refurbishment.
He also said his department is preparing advice and guidance for local authorities to help them deal with the issue of short-term lettings.
Drogheda and Greystones join 19 other local electoral areas in the country that have previously been declared Rent Pressure Zones. These are:
- Cobh, Co Cork
- Maynooth, Co Kildare
- Ballincollig – Carrigaline, Co Cork
- Galway City Central
- Galway City East
- Galway City West
- Celbridge – Leixlip, Co. Kildare
- Naas, Co Kildare
- Kildare – Newbridge
- Ashbourne, Co Meath
- Laytown – Bettystown, Co Meath
- Rathoath, Co Meath
- Bray, Co Wicklow
- Wicklow, Co Wicklow
- Dublin City Council
- South Dublin County Council
- Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown County Council
- Fingal County Council
- Cork City Council
Meanwhile, Solidarity/People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett has said his party are re-introducing their Right to Housing Bill in the new Dáil term in order to try and secure dignified and affordable housing for everyone.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime he said it would require a referendum in order to amend the constitution and he questioned how Fianna Fáil and the Government would vote on the bill.
He said tomorrow's bill will be an opportunity for the Government to "pin their colours to the mast".
"There's been positive noises coming from the new Minister, Eoghan Murphy - I hear more today that he is saying that he's going to close down these loopholes that are being exploited by landlords to evict people, so let's see," Mr Boyd Barrett said.
Mr Boyd Barrett added that loopholes must be closed by the Private Rental Tenancies Board as soon as possible and the Government's two-year timeframe is not fast enough
