Dublin, 21st November 2011 – Property consultants CBRE today called on Minister Alan Shatter to make a statement with immediate effect in relation to the Government’s plans on rent review reform. According to the property consultants, an entire year has been wasted and investments lost while the Government has deliberated on this issue and it is incumbent on the Minister to advise sooner rather than later on whether this legislation is going ahead and if so to give some timelines on its likely implementation.

According to Marie Hunt, Executive Director at CBRE “The property industry pointed out last February that the amendment the Government promised with regard to rent review reform in the Programme for Government was too general and would likely prove unconstitutional. Nine long months later, it appears that the Government has realised that this is indeed the case, if reports in the media over the last few days are to be believed. The unfortunate outcome of the uncertainty that has prevailed around this issue since the beginning of 2011 is that investors have as a direct result postponed decisions to invest in the jurisdiction in the interim. A year has effectively been lost and opportunities missed while we have awaited clarification from Government on this issue. Having been promised draft legislation on numerous occasions over the course of 2011, we are now being told that there is a possibility that the legislation may now not go ahead. We urge Minister Shatter to issue a statement on the issue as a matter of urgency”.