Housing charity Threshold sees 54% leap in calls about tenancy
Launching its 2015 annual report, Threshold said this year it has already seen a 26% rise in the numbers coming to its services about rent arrears and lease terminations.
The charity’s chairwoman, Aideen Hayden, said many of those seeking assistance now are facing notice of termination because landlords are either selling up or because they want to use the property for themselves.
That continues the trend established last year, with the annual report showing the number of people contacting the charity for advice and queries about their tenancy rose from 21,270 to 32,813 queries.
Last month Threshold reported a 26% rise nationally in the number of tenants seeking advice and support for rent reviews in the past year, with rents having increased dramatically in 2016 by an average of 11.7%.
According to the annual report, the highest number of queries to Threshold in 2015 related to tenancy termination, with 1,548 queries; while the second highest number of queries were related to sub-standard accommodation, with 1,429 queries in total.
Another 1,073 people contacted the charity with concerns about rent reviews in 2015. That is a significant increase from 372 queries in 2013.
There were 1,199 queries relating to invalid notice and 969 queries were received regarding deposit retention in 2015.
Some 43% of those who contacted Threshold were in receipt of Department of Social Protection payments, 89% of clients were living in private rented accommodation and 37% of clients were families with children.
Ms Hayden said: “The current crisis in the private rented sector has been caused by a perfect storm of unaffordable rents, shortage of supply and a regulatory framework that simply does not support long-term renting. Disproportionate rent increases, in particular, are pushing hundreds of families into homelessness at an accelerated rate.”
She said the private rented sector is the second largest housing tenure after home ownership, providing homes for one-in-five households in Ireland, yet it is the most expensive and least secure form of housing.
She referred to a “lacuna” which means that people living in homes where the property is in receivership can be removed in what she said is a “huge gap in the law” which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Threshold says there needs to be greater protection for families living in rental properties that are the subject of a sale, who do not get the same level of protection as those in houses that are the subject of repossession applications.
www.threshold.ie
