Dublin City Council, HAP and RAS tenants are facing rent increases.
Tenants received letters yesterday outlining these increases. The increases will take effect from April 6th.
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said that his party will reject these rent increases and has urged tenants to “work together and oppose these increases.”
“Sinn Féin voted against the recent city council budget because it contains increases in the property tax and rent increases for council and HAP tenants,” the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor said.
“Increases in rents will impose further pressure on already struggling families. Families are really struggling with the cost of living crisis. People are being pushed to the pin of their collar trying to cover the cost of food, heating and fuel. The last thing working families need are increases in rents.”
“We will be actively campaigning with tenants groups and others to overturn these rent increases,” he said.
“Families in council housing are in poorly insulated homes, requiring urgent upgrades and maintenance. While HAP and RAS tenants are in precarious private rented accommodation can face eviction at any time. Demanding more rent is insulting and unacceptable.
“The current housing crisis is forcing families to live in overcrowded conditions. Families with grown-up working children cannot demand more money from them to cover a rent increase while the same children are struggling to save for a mortgage or a deposit for a new home,” he said.
Doolan stated, “the real problem is that the central government are starving Dublin City Council of essential funding to cover maintenance of council housing.”
“The government are ignoring the needs of Dublin city. We have the highest concentration of council housing in the state, much of it not even fit for purpose. Only last month the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael government were applauding themselves on a historic budget surplus of over €9 billion. That money must be invested in housing here in Dublin,” the Sinn Féin group leader on DCC said.