Taoiseach blamed for housing ‘legal trap’

THE Taoiseach was yesterday accused of ignoring the plight of 5,000 homeless people who cannot get private rented accommodation because of new strict regulations.

Mr Ahern said in the Dail earlier this week he believed that rents had dropped in the private sector and the Government had introduced a number of measures to increase the affordability of houses.

But Threshold, the organisation that campaigns for the rights of tenants, accused Mr Ahern of ignoring thousands of single people and lone parents who are caught in a legal trap which prohibits them from securing basic accommodation.

The latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show a slight drop in the cost of rented accommodation, but the reality is that this will only benefit people who can afford average weekly rents over 120 a week, Threshold spokesman Russell Chapman said.

The majority of the 5,000 homeless people have no chance of getting their own private rented accommodation because there is a legal cap on what rent they can pay which is below the average market price, Mr Chapman said.

More than 80% cent of homeless people are single men who are depending on rent allowance from health boards to help them pay for accommodation.

In November, the Government introduced a legal cap on amount of rent tenants on this allowance could pay. If they go over this they will lose the allowance.

“The limits are so low that thousands cannot get private rented accommodation for that price and if they pay more they run the risk of losing their rent allowance, “ Mr Chapman said.

In Dublin, a single person on rent allowance cannot pay over €107 a week for a flat, in Cork the cap its €83 and in Galway €115.

Mr Chapman runs Threshold’s Access Housing Unit which tries to secure more private accommodation for homeless people.

“Every day we go through the papers to see what accommodation we can get for single people but the lowest we can get in Dublin is €115 a week - above the legal limit of €107,” Mr Chapman said.

The impact of this capping is that homeless people end up in temporary accommodation like hostels because they cannot move on and this means there are more people stuck living on the streets because there are no temporary beds for them, he added.

A Threshold survey found there was a bias against single people and lone parents among landlords who specify in their ads they only want single people. And another survey carried out by Threshold in Cork found that out of 220 properties for rent only 35 were within the rent limit and among these there was no single bedsits - just house shares.

Threshold wants the Government to make a co-ordinated response to the homeless crisis by directing health boards to be more flexible in implementing the limit on rent allowances.

“The legislation does allow for some flexibility but the health boards seem determined to implement the regulations to the letter,” Mr Chapman added.

The law capping the rent allowance was passed by Social Welfare Minister Mary Coughlan but her department’s spokeswoman confirmed yesterday the law allows Health Boards to be flexible in the strict implementation of the law.