Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said this Government has no real clue on how to stop runaway rents from tormenting ordinary working families who are now stuck being unable to afford to rent or able to afford to buy.

The figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) show that rents have risen on average by 7% across the state this year. The average rent is now €1,352, with average rents in Dublin now at an extortionate level of €1,848. This means it costs €22,176 per year on average to rent in Dublin.

Teachta Crowe said:

“The RTB rent quarterly rent index for Q2 of 2021 indicates that rents have risen by 7% annually. The average rent across the state is now €1,352 a month. Average rents in Dublin are now at an extortionate level of €1,848. This means it costs €22,176 per year on average to rent in Dublin.

“Rents in Dublin have breached the 4% rent cap that was in place and have risen by 4.4%. Alarmingly, rents outside Dublin have risen by almost 11%. This is simply unsustainable.

“The government has no plan to tackle runaway rents. That much is clear from reading the new housing plan and listening to the Minister for Housing.

“The delivery of the long-promised cost rental legislation is painfully slow and even then, most of these rents will not be genuinely affordable to most workers and their families.

“Workers on an average income in the majority of cases cannot afford to rent nor can they afford to buy. They remain excluded with no way out of a crisis they didn’t create. This is not a normal way to live and it cannot continue. How can we expect people to live and raise a family in Dublin if more than half their income is spent on rent?

“Sinn Féin has a plan for renters and a plan to deliver genuinely affordable homes. We would ban rent increases for three years and introduce a refundable tax credit worth one month’s rent for private rented sector tenants.”