RENTERS have never had it so bad – especially if searching for somewhere new to live.
Anyone looking to rent now faces a monthly outlay of almost €1,600, or just under €2,100, in Dublin.
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The Residential Tenancies Board’s Rent Index Report revealed this week that costs have risen more than six per cent in Galway, 4.5 per cent in Dublin, 5.4 per cent in Waterford and five per cent in Cork.
Rent Pressure Zones cap rises at two per cent but landlords are ignoring this to charge whatever they want.
As private landlords exit the market, renters are at the mercy of restricted supply – except at the highest end of the market where extortionate rents are charged for modest homes.
Sinn Fein TD Eoin O’Broin insists his party has a plan to undo the damage.
IT has never been harder to be a renter.
Never before have rents been so expensive and tenancies so insecure.
And you don’t need to take my word for it — read reports from the Government’s own Residential Tenancies Board.
Last year, almost 20,000 eviction notices were issued by landlords to tenants. That’s the highest number on record.
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This week, the RTB published their latest rent report. Last year new rents increased by nine per cent, and rents for existing tenants by six per cent.
That means for new rentals in Dublin, on average tenants are paying more than €21,000.
Across the rest of the state, the cost of renting ranges from €12,000 to €18,000 depending on the location and type of tenancy.
Whatever way you look at it, renters are being fleeced.
More and more are paying up to half their wages just to put a roof over their heads. The figures from the RTB should surprise nobody.
Rents have been increasing year on year since 2014.
Meanwhile, single property landlords have been exiting the market since 2017 and new rental stock coming on stream is at the very top of the market, often €2,500 to €3,000 for a standard home.
TARGETS TOO LOW, AND NOT MET
The Government’s measly tax credit for renters is being completely swallowed by rent increases, and the RTB is failing to enforce the Rent Pressure Zone rules.
Worst of all, the Government’s social and affordable housing targets are too low, and not met.
It is time to give renters a break and to put in place policies that can provide people with secure and affordable homes.
In government, Sinn Féin would introduce immediately an emergency ban on rent increases for three years.
This would apply to all existing and new tenancies as well as to new rental stock. We would also put a full month’s rent back into every private renter’s pocket through a refundable tax credit.
We would remove sale of property as grounds for issuing an eviction notice and tighten up the rules on family use.
Most importantly, we would increase and accelerate the delivery of social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes.
HOMES FOR WORKING PEOPLE
Last year, the Government delivered just over 8,000 social and 1,000 affordable homes. This is nowhere near enough.
We need at least 20,000 social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes a year. And crucially these homes must be genuinely affordable for working people.
So-called affordable rental homes delivered by government are now costing €1,400 for a one-bed and €1,800 for a three-bed.
The full cost of so-called affordable purchase homes is ranging from €250,000 to €425,000.
In what world does the Government think these are affordable to the vast majority of people?
Fine Gael has been in government for 12 years. Fianna Fáil have been propping them up for the last seven.
CRISIS DEEPENING
During all of that time, things have gotten worse. Rents are up. House prices are up. Homelessness is up.
As long as these parties are in government, the worse the housing and homelessness crisis will get.
What we really need is a general election, a new Government, and a new housing plan. Sinn Féin is the party to lead that Government. We have the plan and, more importantly, we have the ambition and the political will.
In government, we would deliver the tens of thousands of genuinely affordable homes that people need.
We will reverse the decades-long decline in home ownership and ensure that the locked-out generation have the choice to make their home in Ireland.
We will stand up for renters, providing security and affordability, and we will deliver year-on-year reductions in homelessness.
The time for change is now and nowhere more is that needed than in housing.
