The Government has been urged to take emergency action as the latest Daft.ie rent report shows monthly prices have hit record levels.
Renters are now paying, on average, €2k more each year compared to the year before as rents rose by over 14%. In Dublin the rate of inflation was as high as 14.3%.
And Daft.ie warns that the high growth in prices is due to the lack of housing supply in Ireland. Author of the report, Professor Ronan Lyons of Trinity College, said the number of homes available has "collapsed".
Read more: Almost €40 million owed to Dublin City Council in social housing rent arrears
Now Sinn Fein are calling on the Government and Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien to take emergency action to tackle the crisis. Housing spokesman Eoin O Broin said the latest report shows that there is a housing emergency on the island of Ireland.
Deputy O'Broin said: “The latest Daft.ie rent report has set a new record. In the last 12 months, new rents have increased by an average of 14% to €1688 a month or €20,256 a year. In Dublin, average new rent is now €2258 a month or €27,996 a year.
“This is the highest ever rent increase recorded in a Daft.ie rent report since they began publishing rent reports in 2006. The Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, must take emergency action to tackle runaway rents. This means a three-year ban on rent increases. It means a properly designed refundable tax credit to put a month's rent back into every private renter's pocket.
“It also means increasing and accelerating the delivery of genuinely affordable cost rental homes. Not only are the government’s affordable cost rental targets too low, they are not even meeting them. The schemes are badly designed, while too much bureaucracy imposed on Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies are preventing the delivery of more homes and a faster pace.
"Darragh O’Brien tells us that there is no housing emergency. Well anyone reading today's Daft.ie rent report would beg to differ. Minister O’Brien should support Sinn Féin’s PMB declaring a housing emergency today and then introduce emergency measures to help struggling renters.”
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