Spiralling rents are causing misery to very many families in Mayo. People are slowly being priced out of ever buying a home, as well as leaving them without any disposable income.
Every week, I meet families and individuals in Mayo who are privately renting and being forced to take on several jobs just to pay the rent. These are often the same families that are refused planning permission to build on their own land.
Those on very low incomes, who do qualify for Housing Assistance Payment, are finding that their payment does not cover the rent requested, even if they get a landlord who will accept HAP.
Another huge problem is the impact of soaring rents on parents who are paying for student accommodation for their children. Parents in this situation are really struggling to keep going. They and other family members are going without in order to pay extortionate rents demanded in the cities where their children are attending college.
The Daft.ie report for the third quarter of this year shows that average asking rents have risen to new all-time high of €1,334. The rental crisis is also no longer confined to Dublin or other large cities. The average rent in Mayo is €704 which represents a year on year increase of 11.4%. We need honesty around why rents continue to rise while the Government claims they are doing all that they can.
We need an immediate three year freeze on rents and to introduce tax reliefs for renters. It is no longer acceptable to do nothing. The fact is that the Government did not see hard pressed renters as a priority in this year’s budget. Sinn Féin proposed a tax relief equal to one month’s rent. Based on the latest available data such a relief would cost €246m. That is a significant sum but simply introducing one of Sinn Féin’s tax proposals such as taxing onshored intangible assets of multinationals would raise €750m. These are all political decisions to be made and it is obvious that the political will does not exist.
The Residential Tenancies Board needs additional power and resources to investigate rent hikes and the building of purpose built student accommodation needs to be escalated.
