Residents fear asylum seeker plan will limit local rental supply
Residents in a Kildare estate are set to hold a protest about plans to house international protection (IP) applicants in a privately owned property due to fears landlords will be encouraged to quit the rental market.
A briefing document sent by the Department of Integration stated a house in Páirc Mhuire in Newbridge, owned by a company called Coolebridge Ltd, is to be used as temporary emergency accommodation for up to 12 people as part of a two-year contract.
The Public Accounts Committee recently heard that private accommodation for both refugees and asylum-seekers costs €76 per person per night.
Based on this figure, the owners of the house could receive over €27,000 each month if it is fully occupied. However, the exact terms of the contract have not been confirmed. Coolebridge Ltd declined to comment when contacted.
Locals in the area have expressed concern that landlords will be encouraged to quit the rental market if lucrative payments are being offered to house IP applicants. A search on Daft.ie shows there are currently just seven properties available to rent in the town.
The Government has been seeking to buy or rent empty properties from landlords, developers and builders in a bid to house record numbers of asylum-seekers.
Members of Páirc Mhuire Residents Association this week met with Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon to discuss their concerns, and have also sent correspondence to Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman.
Teresa Collins, a member of the residents committee, said locals have “decided reluctantly to hold a protest” next Friday.
“We’ve been approached by people who are trying to find a rental property but can’t,” she said.
“This will just blow all us taxpayers out of the water. The landlord hasn’t done anything wrong, but the Government’s policy is wrong. With that sort of money, nobody in Newbridge will be able to afford to rent a house as landlords will look at the sort of lucrative money being made elsewhere.”
The Department of Integration said the property is a “large, refurbished, semi-detached house” which has four bedrooms. In a briefing note, it said there is capacity for 12 people and the accommodation will be for IP applicants.
It is understood they will all be from the same family.
The department said Coolebridge Ltd has previous experience in providing accommodation for IP applicants.
The document stated that more than 190 emergency accommodation locations have been utilised since January 2022 in 26 countries to prevent homelessness for the “unprecedented numbers of people arriving seeking international protection”.
In response to queries from the Irish Independent about payments to owners of private properties and concerns raised by residents, a spokesperson said: “The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has agreed to use a property in Newbridge, Co Kildare, for families seeking international protection.”
Fine Gael councillor Peggy O’Dwyer, based in Newbridge, previously told KFM radio that she believed the money being paid to private operators is “astronomical”.
“I would like to see that greatly reduced,” she said. “It is an incentive for landlords, but on the other hand we have refugees who are in a very difficult situation and we need to include them in the conversation as well.”