Renting in Ireland can be pretty tough and there are some horror stories when it comes to house-hunting and flat-sharing. Finding accommodation in the right location and within budget isn't an enviable task but there is some good news as of today. The government has announced plans to freeze residential increases for two years so if you've had your rent increased already this year, you won't face another increase until 2017.

So is my rent frozen because I had a whopper increase in 2015? If so...nice work government.

— Sharon Ní Icí (@sherqui) November 10, 2015

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Alan Kelly and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan revealed their plan entitled 'A New Deal for Tenants'. RTÉ reports that there are a number of new measures including the increase of the rent review period from one year to two and secondly, increased notice periods for rent reviews. Speaking about the plan, Mr. Kelly said: "With one in five families renting in the state and home ownership declining, long-term renting will become an option for more and more people and the regulatory environment has to catch up with this". With the new plan, if a landlord terminates a tenancy in order to sell the property but the sale doesn't go ahead, this could result in a fine.

Breaking: Government confirms that residential rents will be frozen for two years pic.twitter.com/RfebbTAwON

— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) November 10, 2015

This should allow for greater protection for tenants with Mr Kelly adding: "Many low-income families rely on the private rental sector and rents were escalating far higher than people's incomes because of the housing shortage and the growth in employment. "Landlords will be able to sell their properties or allow a family member to use them, but they will now have to provide a legal declaration that this is the case".