'Exceptionally busy' Ires Reit bosses turn down invite from TDs probing surprise apartment fees

THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST landlord has turned down an invitation from TDs to answer questions over the manner in which it charged renters controversial extra fees for use of common areas in apartment complexes.

Senior management at Ires Reit have told the Oireachtas Housing Committee that they are “exceptionally busy” this summer and will not be able to come before deputies.

The move has been criticised by Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin, who claimed the company is trying to “evade scrutiny” by TDs.

The charges – which first came to light following reporting by The Journal last year – were priced at hundreds of euros every month for new tenants, and would have amounted to €1,800-2,500 extra each year for those renters.

Ó Broin has argued that a comparison of charges tenants were hit with showed that the monthly charges were not consistent, but varied from one tenant to the next.

Ires Reit eventually dropped the idea entirely in the wake of an unrelated court ruling. Following this, the firm said it had refunded tenants in 56 apartments who had previously paid the fees.

The firm had faced pressure over the charges from the rental regulator, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), before that decision was announced.

With up to 3,700 apartments in Dublin alone, Ires Reit is by far the biggest player in the capital’s private rental market as well as being the largest in the country. It reported revenue of €85 million in 2024.

In its response to the committee, issued in recent days, a senior member of management for Ires Reit said that an appearance this summer would not be possible.

“Unfortunately, June and July are exceptionally busy months for our senior management team in the lead-up to our interim results which are published in early August,” Ires Reit’s company secretary and general counsel Anna-Marie Curry told the Oireachtas committee in the letter.

“In addition, we have significant travel commitments in that period. As a result, unfortunately on this occasion we would not be in a position to participate in the committee’s meeting.”

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Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin had wanted the Oireachtas Housing Committee to be able to question bosses of the firm over the manner by which the common area charges were calculated and imposed.

“It is deeply disappointing, though not at all surprising that Ires have declined to attend the committee,” Ó Broin told this publication today.

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Ó Broin pointed to a “series of concerning reports in The Journal regarding attempts to wrongly charge service charges”, which he alleged would have skirted Rent Pressure Zone laws around how much a landlord can charge its tenants.

“I will be asking the Committee to issue them with an open invitation to ensure that they come before our committee and answer questions on their current business model and its impact on renters,” the Dublin Midwest TD added.

Furthermore, Ó Broin said the firm needs to be questioned on how it has operated its properties since the government’s new rental legislation took effect from March.

The company previously told investors that the government’s changes to tenancy rules could see a major increase in its rental income.

As reported last month, multiple tenants are contending that Ires Reit has changed its approach to swapping out tenants and no longer allows new tenants to be added to leases.

Instead, tenants allege they are being made to choose between paying more to remain under the old rules or face moving out, or entering into a new lease that locks them into potentially significant rent increases down the line under new rental laws.

Ires Reit was contacted this afternoon by The Journal and did not respond in time for publication.

It has previously denied all wrongdoing, including regarding the common area fees and the rules around changing flatmates. On the latter issue, it has firmly insisted it always acted in accordance with regulations.

Ó Broin said he feared Ires Reit has been “testing the water” on the application of new tenancy rules, making it critical that the company come before TDs.

“They must answer questions on these and related matters and they must not be allowed to evade scrutiny from an Oireachtas Committee on matters of significant public interest,” the TD added.

What Ires Reit has said

The company said last year, before the scrapping of the charges, that it had taken legal advice to ensure the common area charges were “not at odds” with Rent Pressure Zone rules and adhered to existing legislation. It said the common area charges and a tenant’s rent were “broken down transparently” in lease agreements.

Regarding Ó Broin’s claims of inconsistencies, sources close to the company dispute the claims and argue that the short-lived charges were calculated consistently in each building based on the number of bedrooms. They noted that running costs of each building may have also contributed to the final figures.

The company’s decision to scrap the charges was taken on foot of a High Court decision that found that only a management company has responsibility for a building’s common areas.

The common area charges by Ires Reit were imposed at buildings where no management company was overseeing the property and the company itself had responsibility for the common areas.

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