We need rent freezes and protections from eviction to beat housing crisis – Govt policy has been an ‘utter failure’
IRELAND is in the midst of a rental crisis with prices soaring and properties few and far between.
There was more woe last week as new statistics revealed how the average rent in Dublin was now almost €2,000 a month.
The figures compiled by the Residential Tenancies Board showed that rents rose by 8.3 per cent in the third quarter of the year — the highest rate of rental increase since 2017. The average rent across the country is now €1,397.
However, it soars to €1,916 in the capital. Co Leitrim has the lowest at €731.
The Government’s Housing for All plan, launched in September, is aimed at tackling the crisis.
But writing in the Irish Sun today, the Labour Party’s Housing spokesperson REBECCA MOYNIHAN says the latest figures show the “utter failure” of Government policy and the need for a rent freeze and more protections from eviction.
AVERAGE RENT 'UNAFFORDABLE'
ON Friday, the Residential Tenancies Board published the Rent Index for Quarter 3 of 2021. And it will come as no surprise to renters that this report shows significant rent increases nationally — yet again.
Rents are continuing to spiral all over the country, with an average national increase of 8.3 per cent. To put that into context, the average rent in Dublin is now €1,916.
This is unaffordable for far too many people, but particularly for anyone who is single and a renter. Dublin is becoming a place that only the exceptionally well-off can afford to live in, with most working people looking at being priced out of the city.
However, large rent increases are not just limited to Dublin and urban areas. Outside the capital, rents have increased on average by 12.7 per cent. Rents in Longford and Leitrim have increased massively by over 20 per cent in the last year.
That is completely unsustainable. And if this continues, there should be no doubt that the number of people entering homelessness from the private rental sector in this country will continue to soar.
GOVERNMENT'S UTTER FAILURE
The RTB’s newly published figures illustrate the utter failure of Government policy and the clear need for an immediate rent freeze and greater protections from eviction.
If you are young, it is very difficult to see a scenario in which you can afford to rent as you start out in the working world.
If you’re single then it often feels like Government policy doesn’t think you exist, as everything is calculated on the basis of joint incomes.
Increasing numbers of people are also retiring as renters and we need to seriously examine how we will ensure the security of people looking down the barrel of spending nearly their whole pensions on rent.
Ireland has become no country for young people, older people or single people.
Despite many changes to the laws on renting in the last number of years, from this Minister and his predecessor, all they have achieved are small changes.
These changes are always too little too late, without adequately tackling the deep imbalance that exists between landlords and tenants.
WE NEED TO CHANGE WAY WE LOOK AT RENTING
We are now seeing the highest rate of growth in rents since the end of 2017.
The failed policies of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail over many years have resulted in people paying record levels of rent with comparatively weak protections from evictions.
We need to move past looking at renting as if it is a short-term phase of life some people go through and instead start treating it as a long-term option for those who either do not want or cannot afford to buy a home.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to housing and Government policy should not approach it as if there is. For years now the Labour Party has called for a broad suite of measures, including a tax on vacant homes, a rent freeze, protection for deposits and restrictions on the grounds for evictions.
All of these policy choices are needed to work in tandem to help keep people in their homes — and put an end to the depths of this current housing crisis.
Read more on the Irish Sun
We need to tackle the affordability crisis in Ireland and change how we think about renting in this country.
That will only happen with drastic political action — and it must happen now.