91% of rentals beyond housing benefits
The Simon Community took a snapshot of the rental market over three consecutive days this month and found that just 9% of all available properties were within the rental supplement limits.
The housing and homeless charity also found that the private rental supply is down 45% in two years.
According to the charity’s Locked Out of the Market report, there were just 630 properties available to rent in its 11 chosen study areas.
Some of the areas looked at include Athlone, Dundalk, Cork City, Sligo town, and Dublin city centre.
The charity tracked the number of properties available to rent within the limits of the Department of Social Protection’s rent supplement and the Department of Housing’s housing assistant payment.
In Cork City there were 62 properties to rent over the course of the three-day study. Only eight of these were within the rent supplement/housing assistant payment limits.
Of these eight properties, one was available to rent for a single person within the rent supplement/housing assistant payment limits and one for a couple within the same limits.
Five properties were available for a couple or a parent with one child and one for a couple or parent with two children.
The average rent per month for a one-bed property in Cork over the course of the study was €948 and for a two-bed, it was €1,248.
The average monthly rent for a one-bed is 72% higher than the rent supplement/housing assistant payment limit for a single person and the average monthly rent for a two-bed is 35% higher.
In terms of Dublin city centre, while there were 202 properties available to rent over the study period, only three were available within the rent supplement/housing assistant payment limits.
The three were available to rent to a couple or a parent with a child. The Simon Community expressed concern over their suitability for a family considering they were one-bed properties.
Nationally, rents have increased by 13.4% from January to March.
The most recent homeless figures (June 2017) show there are 7,941 people living in emergency accommodation across Ireland. This includes 3,206 adults with no dependents and 1,365 families with 2,895 children.
In terms of homeless people, the only official count is done in the Dublin city centre area and the latest one in April showed that 138 people were sleeping rough and 57 sheltered in the Night Cafe.
Niamh Randall, national spokeswoman for the Simon Communities in Ireland, said there are several factors at play.
“Nearly 8,000 people remain trapped in emergency accommodation, they are locked out of the private rented market because rents are too high and supply is too low,” she said.
Ms Randall said the lack of social housing means people must turn to the private rental market for accommodation, but for those on State housing benefits, this solution is futile.
“The gap between housing benefit payments and market rents is too wide for people who are struggling, people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” she said.
“The sustainable long-term solution to end the current crisis is to build more social and affordable housing.”
