Homeless charity call for action

THE soaring cost of rent as seen in the latest Daft.ie report coupled with a shortage of supply in Sligo City and County is a major concern for local Focus Ireland Manager Mary Jameson.

Focus Ireland has called for more urgent Government action to tackle rocketing rents as the new Daft report shows rents have shot up to a new alltime record of €1,200 per month, with rents increasing for 21 consecutive quarters, nationally. The charity warned that, despite the Strategy for the Rental Sector published 12 months ago, Government action to address the rental crisis has had very limited impact so far.

Focus Ireland Sligo Manager Mary Jameson said: “The DAFT report clearly show that actions the Government has taken have not been implemented effectively.”

The average rent in Sligo stands at €665, or 8.5% higher than the same time in 2016 or nearly 28% more than when rents were at their lowest locally. In the town and county, one and two bedroom homes are the category of properties most impacted by rising rents, with in- creases of 8% locally. One beds average a rental price of €494 and two bed houses are more expensive at €563.

Overall, September across Connacht and Ulster, the last quarter was the 17 th time in the last 20 quarters that rents have risen locally. The DAFT report also found a continuing drop in the number of units available, down 16% from last year.

Ms Jameson said: “We are calling on the Minister to publish the full review of Rebuilding Ireland. We need a coherent and comprehensive approach, not just a series of press statements, comments and leaks.

“The strategy must include immediate and effective actions to ease the rental crisis, boost building and also get more vacant homes back into the housing stock.”

Ms Jameson added: “Our frontline staff here in Sligo are still dealing with people who have become homeless from the rental sector as rents have been hiked up and they can’t afford them. There needs to be a much wider range of Government actions taken to keep protecting tenants and keep them in their homes.”