Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West, Seán Crowe, has welcomed the statement this weekend from the Housing Minister, Alan Kelly, where he said he would bring proposals to the Cabinet around rent regulation and control.

Deputy Crowe said there was between 50 and 60 people sleeping rough on the streets in freezing conditions every night and in many cases it was simply down to a lack of any affordable accommodation.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Many individuals and homeless families who are presenting at my constituency office are claiming that they have they are in their predicament because of astronomical rent demands by landlords, a chronic shortage of properties actually accepting rent allowance, and the complete lack of available housing in the Dublin area.

“I welcome Minister Alan Kelly’s recent epiphany at Labour’s Party Conference and his statement that he now intends to bring to Cabinet proposals around rent regulation and control.

“The Minister only just a couple of months ago said that he didn’t believe there was any need to introduce any rent control or regulation.

“Sinn Fein has been calling for just that, along with others dealing directly with homelessness, in order to prioritise fair rent controls and to tackle rising rents.

“In recent years, in Dublin especially, rent has risen dramatically way above levels of affordability and this is putting more and more people at risk of losing their homes.

“Rent regulation and control of prices combined with a strategy to build more houses as soon as possible would have an immediate impact on thousands people trapped in the spiralling rental sector.

“It’s plain for anybody to see that the current rental system is not working for either legitimate landlords or the tens of thousands of tenants trapped in the rental merry go round.

Crowe continued:

“The Government also needs to put together a major investment into building Social Housing. They have claimed to be investing 3.8 billion euro in housing but this is over 6 years and only amounts to an average of an extra 36 million annually. Much of the housing they plan to deliver is expected to come from the private market. This have will have little or no real impact on 90,000 plus people on housing lists across the State.

“It’s clear that only a combination of new proactive measures will assist people in finding a home, and the families and individuals caught in the rental market will have greater protection against the very real threat of losing the home they are currently in.

“In the meantime I look forward to the publication of Minister Kelly’s Rental Regulation Proposals.”

ENDS