Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has said he is increasingly angry and frustrated at the lack of any new measures coming from Government in order to tackle the rise in rents.
The Sinn Féin TD was responding to the latest report from Daft.ie which highlights that the cost of rent is now 18% higher than their previous peak in 2008. The report also suggests that significantly fewer properties are now available on the market amid the worsening housing crisis.
Teachta Seán Crowe said:
“The latest Daft.ie quarterly rental report shows that rents jumped to a record high for the fifth quarter in a row.
“Rents across the State rose by an average of 11.8% in the first half of this year and the average rental price now stands at €1,159 per month. In Dublin the average rental price is €1,707 per month.
“The policy of successive Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour governments to let the market decide on prices, combined with their abject failure to build any social housing, has led to this situation. Their buck passing of responsibility to the private sector has led to a direct increase in homelessness, increased rents and insecure tenancies.
“A lack of legislation has also allowed landlords and vulture funds to cream off huge profits during a housing crisis, while vulnerable tenants and tax payers suffer.
“The increasing lack of supply and affordability of housing units continues to escalate under this Government. The private market has failed miserably to deliver adequate numbers of social and affordable housing units for those on low and middle incomes, and for students. A new approach from Government and policy makers is clearly needed.
“Sinn Féin has long demanded the implementation of legislation to provide rent certainty and for a social and affordable house building programme. We have also outlined the need to create new and proactive conditions to encourage more vacant homeowners to release their unoccupied housing units.
“What is clear is that housing demand is increasing on a daily basis, but the current government response lacks any purpose, is inadequate for our citizen’s needs, and needs massive reform.”
ENDS