Charity’s concern at rising rents

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

Across Sligo, the average rental percentage increase in a year was between 6.3% and 7.5% for properties which had between one and four bedrooms.

Sligo Focus Ireland Manager Mary Jameson said: “The DAFT report clearly show that actions the Government has taken have not been implemented effectively. We see average rents of over €600 in Sligo town for a one bed apartment which tells its own story.

“Rent increases are like a fever that needs to be controlled if we are not to see thousands of families, including those on decent wages, forced out of their homes.”

Ms Jameson said: “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.” Focus Ireland also said that is not helpful that the full review of Rebuilding Ireland which was meant to be concluded in September is not to be published.