A Councillor has urged South Dublin County Council to ease the pressure on cash-strapped renters - as officials prepare to pursue rent hikes "across the board".
During a budget meeting on November 13, SDCC CEO Colm Ward revealed plans to push for widespread rent increases for Council tenants. Mr Ward made these comments whilst awaiting a report entitled An Overview of Local Authorities Differential Rent Schemes and Rent Reviews, which is expected to be released shortly by the Value for Money Unit at the Local Government Audit Service.
This report is approaching completion, and is understood to offer a foundation for strategic modifications of the rent differential scheme. The news comes as concerned residents, together with CATU activists and Councillors, are demonstrating outside City Hall tonight following claims that certain Dublin City Council tenants could encounter rent rises of up to 50 per cent in the first major overhaul of social housing payments in three decades.
Sinn Fein Councillor William Carey argues the SDCC proposal to raise rents fails to acknowledge that numerous tenants are already battling to survive amid a cost of living crisis. The Clondalkin rep said that certain councils operate a maximum rent per household system, and maintains that SDCC should adopt this approach.
He said: "Both Fingal and DCC have maximum rents for subsidiary earners in the household and indeed Meath County Council have a maximum weekly rent in their criteria. However, in 2020 a proposal to introduce an additional 10 per cent levy on income above the qualifying household figure has resulted in some SDCC households facing rents higher than those in the private market.
"Subsidiary rents are effectively being charged at 20 per cent of income and invariably this means adult children in a household are being disproportionately being charged extra for living at home and unable to flee the nest. This is despite the rent income expected to rise from €39m in 2025 to €49m in 2026.
"The current differential rent is based on a percentage rate of the income per household which was previously set at 10 per cent. This was always seen as a fair rate and meant that as household income rose so to the rent.
"The way in which SDCC have approached this proposal is deeply flawed and I intend on raising this as a matter of deep concern at the next Council meeting."
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