MONTHLY rents in Limerick have risen by a staggering 15 per cent in the last year, according to the latest report from the Daft.ie property website.
The average rent has risen by more than a third since bottoming out in 2011 and has now surpassed its 2008 peak. Rents rose by over 11 per cent in Dublin on 2015 levels, rents in Cork were up 18 per cent while Limerick experienced an increase of more than 15 per cent in just twelve months.
Focus Ireland says that soaring rents continue to put people at risk of homelessness and highlights the urgent need for the promised Government Private Rented Strategy.
“While the Government’s decision in July to increase Rent Supplement levels by between 15 per cent and 30 per cent was very welcome, these Daft figures show that it is still well behind soaring market rents and much more comprehensive action is needed,” said director of advocacy at Focus Ireland, Mike Allen.
“The Action Plan on Homelessness and Housing includes a commitment to bring out a ‘Strategy for a viable and sustainable rental sector’ by the fourth quarter of 2016. These figures underline how urgently this strategy is needed and the scale of the challenge it must address.”
Focus Ireland’s frontline services have seen that the vast majority of the families becoming homelessness previously rented their home in the private rented sector.
“These are people who have never experienced homelessness before and are losing their home due to economic reasons. The two main forces pushing them into homelessness are rising rents and landlords leaving the sector, either voluntarily or through being forced by their banks,” Mr Allen explained.
“When the Government increased Rent Supplement levels they didn’t set out a clear framework for when the limits will be reviewed again and on what basis. This creates unnecessary and damaging uncertainty within the private rented market at a time when certainty is needed. The Government should make clear that it intends to review Rent Supplement levels on an annual basis using transparent methodology. This would help to create some certainty for both landlords and tenants.”
Focus Ireland also highlighted that increasing rent supplement is not a long-term solution to the housing and homeless crisis but stressed that it was an essential emergency response to help prevent more families and individuals from losing their home while the long-term solutions kick in.
Sinn Fein TD for Limerick, Maurice Quinlivan urged the government to look again at introducing rent certainty to alleviate pressure on struggling households.
“The consequences of these continuous rent increases are not trivial and it affects everyone dependent on the private rental sector for accommodation. This includes middle income working families who cannot afford to save to buy a home, low income families that are paying up to 60 per cent of their disposable income on rent and the students whose number is on the increase every year, with fewer properties available to meet this growth.”
Deputy Quinlivan maintains that the Government’s Housing Action Plan offers little hope for those in the private rental sector other than a vague pledge to commission a white paper included in the plan.
“The situation is such that many parents have to decide between paying rent and covering increasing back to school costs. In some cases families are being made homeless because of an inability to pay the rising rents or to secure rental accommodation. With 2,000 children now in emergency accommodation across the State it is clear that household poverty is increasing. The government must recognise that rent certainty is key to alleviating pressure on these households.”
by Alan Jacques
