Rising rates highlight urgent need for rent certainty – Ellis

Responding to a report from property website daft.ie today which showed a national increase in rents of 3.9% Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis TD urged the government to look again at introducing rent certainty to alleviate pressure on struggling households.
Teachta Ellis said;
“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% 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.
“Sinn Féin brought forward a Bill that would have provided rent certainty for landlords and tenants alike and this was rejected by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This Bill would have linked rent increases and decreases to the Consumer Price Index which would have provided some stability for the market. 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 it is clear that household poverty is increasing. The government must recognise that rent certainty is key to alleviating pressure on these households.”