Rent Pressure Zones are to be replaced with a new system next year.

The Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has said he is working on proposals that will change the way individual landlords are treated.

The current Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) legislation aims to cap rent rises at 4% in designated locations.

It is due to expire at the end of the year and Minister O’Brien is now working on new legislation to replace it.

“I think there is a good opportunity for us now in our country to bring about a more stable environment for the rented sector,” he said.

“For tenants and indeed for the mom and pop landlords that are out there as well.

“So those measures, the RPZs, expire at the end of this year and I am looking at what we can to replace them and to improve upon them.”

It comes as the rent report from property website Daft.ie found that the cost of renting in Ireland has almost doubled in the past 10 years.

Rents nationally have increased by 2.1% in the first three months of the year – with the average payment now €1,443 per month.

That is compared to €742 in 2011.

Recent weeks have seen discussion around housing dominated by the issue of institutional investment funds.

There's been a public outcry after reports that so-called 'cuckoo funds' are buying up large numbers of properties in some new housing estates, in order to put them on the rental market.

The Government is working on measures to prevent such bulk-buying, amid calls from opposition parties to ensure homes are available to first-time buyers.

Additional reporting from Stephen McNeice