Responding to the latest Simon Community housing report ‘‘Locked Out of the Market III: The Gap Between Rent Supplement/HAP Limits and Market Rents’’, Jimmy Dignam, The Workers’ Party candidate for Dublin North West, said that it highlighted the urgent need for the proper rent controls to ensure affordable rents for tenants in the private sector.
Jimmy Dignam, Workers Party CandidateDublin North West
Commenting on figures showing the number of properties that met Rent Supplement or Housing Assistance Payment rent limits in the survey areas had fallen by 47% compared to August 2015, Dignam said:
‘This shows that the Government’s policies are having no impact and that the crisis is worsening. Fine Gael and Labour say that we are in a period of recovery. They are happy to ignore the plight of ordinary people affected by the housing crisis. Rents for a three-bed semi-detached house in Finglas increased by 9.5% from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015. The Government’s cop-out on rent controls means that the situation is still worsening on a monthly basis, with families being forced into homelessness by unfair rent increases.’
Dignam pointed out the lack of affordable accommodation in parts of Dublin North West, stating:
‘There are currently 47 units available to rent in Ballymun, Finglas, Santry and Whitehall on Daft.ie. Not a single one of these properties meets the official limits for the Housing Assistance Payment, and only one of them is available for rent below €1,000 a month. This not only highlights the lack of affordable accommodation but shows the total lack of availability of housing under the official limits for HAP payments. This is causing extreme hardship to the thousands of people on the council housing waiting list in Dublin North West.’
Dignam concluded by saying:
‘Ultimately the state needs to stop diverting funds towards greedy private developers and landlords and start funding public investment in the social housing stock. A long-term plan of investment in public housing developments with access to community facilities and employment opportunities is the real solution to this housing crisis.’