Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has called on the Government to prioritise the introduction of fair rent controls to tackle the rising rents which are increasingly putting families at the very real risk of losing their homes.

He made his call following recent figures released by Daft.ie which found the average rent price for a home was up 14% in Dublin and 9% across the state since last year.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“For many trapped on the rental treadmill, the announcement that rents have been going up for the last three years will come as no surprise. There is just too few houses available and current demand is outstripping availability. Rents are spiralling out of control, especially in Dublin and this is putting vulnerable renters increasingly at the risk of homelessness.

“Sinn Féin wants to see the introduction of a system of fair rent controls that are operating in other progressive societies. This will not solve the housing problem but could be significant part of a package of initiatives to help to ease the crisis.

“Renters who are now facing homelessness cannot wait for more social housing to come on stream, so some rent control is needed as a matter of priority.

“While appreciating that Housing Minister Jan O Sullivan has commissioned a report into rent control options, many of those who are currently struggling to scrape together the money to keep their home, cannot wait much longer for this report.

“Renters have also been left waiting in limbo for a deposit retention scheme despite long promised positive soundings from the Minister.

“We know that a huge amount of people have already lost their homes because of rent increases.

“The State needs to step in to stop rack renting and to ensure that rents are set at a fair level which takes into account the Consumer Price Index and the quality of the accommodation.

“Along with significant investment in housing as outlined by Sinn Féin during recent debates in the Dáil we can begin to really tackle housing need and bring rents under control.

Crowe continued:

“The Government should also explore new ideas which they have paid lip service to in the past, such as social housing bonds, and independent trusts being set up by Local Authorities.

“Before the economic collapse the State was building 4,000 to 5,000 social housing units every year. Right now this government is building significantly less homes, despite the housing need being much more severe.

“In fact over €1 billion has been cut from the housing budget since 2008, despite the amount of people needing social housing more than doubling.

“Everyone except Housing Minister Jan O Sullivan accepts that we are in the middle of a housing crisis. She needs to wake up to the reality and respond with urgency to this growing but fixable problem.”

ENDS