Housing crisis causing chaos for families and must now be made a priority.
Speaking prior to handing in his nomination papers today Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley said that "the outgoing Labour/ Fine Gael Government has failed spectacularly to make the housing crisis a priority. They have been big on announcements and PR but have failed on delivery. The number of people becoming homeless in Laois is rising. Laois County Council regularly have to send homeless families to hostels as far as Mullingar and Longford which can result in families being separated. Often this means that children are taken out of school.
"The Simon Communities have highlighted the devastating impact of rising rents and reduced housing supply - people on low incomes and those in receipt of rent support can no longer afford rental payments. Private rented supply is at the lowest level in a decade. Rent support levels were cut in 2013 and have not increased since. The vast majority of private rented properties on the market - 95%, are beyond the reach of people who are in receipt of state support. The Simon report has confirmed that there are no houses available to rent in Kildare or Portlaoise within the rent support limits.
"This shows that the Governments supposed rent certainty measures are failing to prevent homelessness. I have had streams of people coming to my office in recent weeks whose rent is being increased by as much as 20% and they simply cannot afford to pay it.
"The solution is rent control measures, as proposed by Sinn Féin, which would set a maximum rent based on house size with increases not beyond the level of inflation. This would provide stability and fairness.
"Despite all the announcements on new housing just 6 local authority houses were constructed in Laois last year. None of these extra houses announced by Alan Kelly are going to be constructed in Laois.
If in Government Sinn Féin are commited to constructing 36,000 new social housing units, within a five year period, for renting and a proportion to be sold as affordable housing. The scale of the problem requires this response. The scale of the problem is causing chaos and misery for families and cannot be ignored any longer. ENDS
