THE decision by the government to cut the rent supplement by €22 million has left many tenants in private rented accommodation with no alternative but to break tenancy agreements with their present landlords and therefore, risk losing their deposit, it has been claimed. Sean Griffin, Sinn Fein, has now called for regulation to protect tenants deposits, He told the Limerick Post: “It has emerged that €30 million of these deposits cannot be accounted for.
It is time for the government to introduce regulation to ensure that these are returned to tenants who are being forced to seek alternative accommodation because of cutbacks”.
With an estimated 98,000 people in receipt of Rent Allowance, including lone parents, low paid and the elderly, and many of whom would find it difficult to put together a second deposit, it is vital, he says, that some sort of protection is afforded to them.
“Traditionally, some deposits were paid by loans from family, friends, Credit Unions or from charitable organisations like the St Vincent De Paul, but with these avenues now all but closed to them, mostly because of the economic situation, some are turning to illegal moneylenders for help”.
He added: “One of the more bizarre elements of the whereabouts of the €30million of deposits is that the Dept. of Social Protection is not even asking where it has gone. This money is classified as unearned income and is taxable.
“It’s obvious that a major overhaul of the current system is urgently needed so that tax-payers money is adequately accounted for, and that tenants who find themselves in this invidious position are protected from losing their deposits”.
