Massive rent hikes in Laois highlight the need for effective rent controls – Stanley
Rents are now at their highest levels ever in South Kildare. The last government failed to put effective rent control measures in place and ordinary people are paying the price. It’s imperative that rent increases are tied to the level of inflation to stop these massive hikes.
Sinn Féin recently introduced a Bill in the Dáil that would have done this, but Fianna Fáil and
Fine Gael voted it down. The measure introduced in January by the last Fine Gael / Labour government, which limits landlords to rent increases every two years, has not produced the results they predicted. Instead the measure has resulted in landlords enforcing double digit rent hikes, in some cases as high as 40%.
This has serious negative consequences for those on the lowest incomes. Many have informed me of their rents increasing for example from €650 per month an un-affordable €900 per month. They are now on the verge of homelessness.
The latest Government measure which increased rent ceilings for people in receipt of rent supplement is welcome, but the statistics released this week prove that without effective rent controls landlords are only encouraged to increase rents. Unfortunately some of them have taken advantage of this.
Both measures introduced this year have not resulted in rent certainty as promised, they have actually made a bad situation worse. The 12.5% increase over the past year is the largest year on year increase ever. The only solution to this crisis is to link rent controls to the level of inflation, something that Sinn Féin have been demanding for the past 5 years, and this has now been taken up by a number of organisations working in the housing sector. The Government needs to act now in the interest of both the hard pressed tenant and the tax payer.
