Government doesn’t care about renters, says Donnelly

Rents across Dublin have risen by 10% across Dublin – and Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly says that rents will keep increasing the longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in Government.

Donnelly echoed calls by party colleague Eoin Ó Broin, who is calling for an “urgent” ban on rent increases for all existing and new tenants.

The most recent report from the Residential Tenancies Board shows the average rent for new tenancies in Ireland stood at €1,574, a rise of 11.6% on the year prior.

The figure is at the highest rise since 2007, a year before the global economic crash.

“The RTB report showing massive increases in rents is shocking,” said Ó’Broin.

“Families, workers and young people deserve and need affordable housing and affordable rents.”

“Sinn Féin’s proposal to cut rents and freeze them would have prevented these massive increases in rents,” he claimed.

Donnelly pointed to RTB statistics that showed that the average rent for a two-bedroom house in Dublin West is upwards of €2000 per month.

“This is simply unsustainable. When will it end? Renters in Dublin West cannot keep taking these kinds of rent hikes – they need a break,” he said.

Donnelly accused the current Government of “not caring about renters,” and “that much is clear” when reading the latest RTB statistics.

“They tell us they are making an impact on housing. Unfortunately, that impact is just putting affordable housing and affordable rents further out of reach for people.”

“No wonder so many young people who cannot afford this level of high rents are emigrating,” he remarked.

Donnelly said that the Government must “urgently” introduce a ban on rent increases for existing and new tenants, and “put a full month’s rent back in every private renter’s pocket.”

“Government also needs to increase and accelerate the delivery of social and affordable homes, including cost rental homes, so that renters are not left at the mercy of an expensive and insecure private rental sector.”

The Dublin West TD said “the longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government the worse things get; nowhere has this been more evident than from this report that shows massive rent increases over the last 12 months.”

“Only a change of government, a change of housing policy and Eoin Ó Broin as Housing Minister will allow us to start cleaning up the mess of decades of bad Fiánna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy.”

Social Democrats’ spokesperson on housing Cian O’Callaghan, said it is “concerning” that rents are going beyond the 2% legal limit. “Average rents for existing tenancies in Dublin, for example, which is covered by these regulations, rose by 5.5% in the past 12 months.”

“Furthermore, rents in new tenancies have risen by a staggering 11.6% in 12 months. This is the largest yearly increase ever recorded by the Residential Tenancies Board.”

O’Callaghan asserted that “a common way for landlords to carry out illegal rent increases is to hike up the price in between tenancies.”

He said this practice could be a major contributing factor as to why new tenancies are so much more expensive than existing ones.

O’Callaghan criticised a “lack of transparency” that he says allows landlords to “get away with ripping off tenants.”

“We need to establish a register of rents so that incoming tenants can find out how much rent their predecessors paid,” he said. “This will allow them to check if rent caps are being properly applied to their tenancy, right now the current lack of transparency and oversight is allowing renters to get ripped-off every time they move home.”

He said that a register would bring some “much-needed control to skyrocketing rents.”

“It is clear that the Minister for Housing is presiding over a dysfunctional rent regulation system that is failing to protect tenants.”

Tánaiste Míchael Martin defended the Government’s record on housing, and claimed that things would get “far worse” should Sinn Féin get into power.

“Banning rent increases will not produce one additional house. In fact, it would reduce the number of houses available for rent in the market. That would be the impact of Sinn Féin’s decision and its entire approach to the matter,” he said in response to a Dáil question by Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty.

He said that Sinn Féin’s approach to housing would translate to fewer houses being available, and this would cause rents to “go up even further.”

He said the party has “opposed a hell of a lot,” noting that they opposed new housing schemes across Dublin on State land as they were not designated exclusively as State housing.
“Sinn Féin’s policies are overly negative in respect of housing,” he said.