Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has demanded that the Minister for Housing ‘take emergency action to tackle run away rents’ in south Dublin and the rest of the state. The call was made as the Quarter 3 Daft.ie rent report shows new rents surging by 15% in the south of Dublin.

Teachta Crowe said:

“It is clear that there is a growing housing emergency in this state. The latest Daft.ie rent report has set a new record. In the last 12 months, new rents have increased by an average of15% to €2,494 a month or €29,928 a year in the south of Dublin.

“These huge sums represent a full wage for many workers and are clearly unaffordable for the vast majority of people. The housing crisis is spiralling out of control and must be stopped.

“The teachers’ unions came out only this morning to say that the inability of affordable rental accommodation is a direct threat to the education system in this country. If teachers cannot afford to live anywhere close to the communities in which they work, how does the government expect child to receive an education?

“It is the same story with nurses, with guards, with so many essential workers in our economy and public services. By allowing the housing crisis to reach such dire proportions, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have allowed the ripple effects to wreak havoc right across society.

“The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien must take emergency action to tackle run away rents. This means a three year ban on rent increases. It means a properly designed refundable tax credit to put a month’s rent back into every private renter’s pocket.

“It also means increasing and accelerating the delivery of genuinely affordable cost rental homes.

“Not only are the Government’s affordable cost rental targets too low, they’re not even meeting them. The schemes are badly designed and too much bureaucracy imposed on Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies is preventing the delivery of more homes at a faster pace.

“Shockingly, Minister Darragh O’Brien recently said that there is no housing emergency. Anyone reading today’s Daft.ie rent report would beg to differ. People affected by this crisis every day in Dublin South West would beg to differ.

“Minister O’Brien should support Sinn Féin’s motion in the Dáil this evening declaring a housing emergency and then introduce emergency measures to help struggling renters. Renters can’t be expected to keep waiting, they need to see action to tackle the housing crisis now.”