Ireland second highest rate of rent and mortgage arrears across Europe

Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe has said it is extremely frustrating and depressing, that a new European report into housing that found that Ireland comes second after Greece, for having the highest rate of rent and mortgage arrears in Europe, coming in at  a whopping 20.2%

Crowe said the report is another indication of level of the extremes of inequality Ireland’s poorest are experiencing despite all the talk of a recovery.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Ireland is supposed to be in the middle of an economic recovery but people on lower incomes are clearly not seeing many of its benefits.

“A new report from the European housing organisation FEANTSA comes as another reminder of the abject failure of this government to deliver a comprehensive and inclusive housing policy.

“The report called “An Overview of Housing Exclusion across Europe” reveals that rising housing costs are disproportionately affecting the poor: with a growing number of people experiencing housing deprivation, arrears on rent, over-crowding, fuel poverty and homelessness.

“In a league table of 28 European Union countries Ireland comes in second after Greece for low income tenants paying more for accommodation than those with a higher income with 49.2% of poorer households paying out more.

“Across Europe the report finds that poorer households are more exposed to price fluctuations and that the price of housing is rising faster than income levels.

“Ireland also has one of the highest rates of accommodation instability where those on low incomes believe that they’ll have to move in the next six months.

“The FEANTSA report comes on the back of other data released by Daft.ie which showed that rents have risen faster in 2015 that at any time since the boom. In the month of September their data suggest that rents have risen across the state by 3.2%.

“The reports are a depressing read and extremely frustrating given the abject failure of the FG/Labour Government to respond in any meaningful way to the crisis.

“All these reports cut through the Government spin that suggests that conditions are getting better and a light is shining from the end of the tunnel.

“It’s clear from these reports that if your poor and on a low income you are very likely to be in a long way back in the dark in the queue to exit that fictional tunnel.”