She was speaking after Communities Minister Gordon Lyons confirmed he will introduce regulations to limit private rent increases during tenancies to once per year. Strangford MLA Ms Armstrong said while this was a needed move, more needed to be done, as outlined in Alliance’s recent New Deal for Private Renters policy paper.

“Private renters in Northern Ireland face constant challenges on a regular basis,” said Ms Armstrong.

“That includes the constant threat of rent hikes from some landlords who use the fact they have tenants as an excuse to profiteer. The Minister’s scheme, which will limit those increases to once a year is therefore well needed.

“However, it does not go far enough. The unfortunate fact is it will not stop some greedy landlords from trying to make money by increasing that rent by a larger amount to profiteer. The Communities Minister needs to go further and introduce legislation to ban inflation-busting rent increases.

“That was one of the many proposals outlined in Alliance’s recent New Deal for Private Renters paper, which also included a suggestion for the creation of a new Housing Ombudsman. That would protect renters and hold landlords to account, in order to ensure fairness across the board.”