Few homes to rent for poorest of families

Only one in eight properties are available to rent within Rent Supplement and Housing Assistance Payment limits, a study shows.

Despite the Government’s refusal to increase the allowances, research carried out by the Simon Community shows that only 12% of private homes for rent go to the poorest people.

The study of 1,150 properties in 10 urban areas was carried out over three consecutive days last month.

Of the 138 suitable properties found in the survey, there were only nine units suitable for a single person receiving rental assistance.

There were 17 units suitable for couples, 69 units suitable for a couple with one child and 43 units for couples with two children.

The organisation has called on the Government to take action to address the crisis by increasing rent supplements and introducing rent certainty measures.

However, last March, the Department of Social Protection said it will not increase State supports for people unable to pay fully for private accommodation, despite an 18% increase in rental rates nationally since 2013.

Simon Community spokesperson Niamh Randall said it was not good enough that so many families are forced to live in hotel accommodation.

“They’re trying to do homework, they’re trying to get children to school, they’re trying to eat, they’re trying to do all the family activities in this one hotel room, and it just isn’t possible,” she said.

Ms Randall also called for an increase in rent supplement to be coupled with rent certainty measures, which might offset some of the inflation in the market.

The charity says action is needed from the Government to prevent people from becoming homeless.

The latest PRTB Quarterly Rent Index shows the average national rent hit €835 in the first three months of this year, compared to €781 in 2014 – a rise of 6.9%.

Rents for houses were 6.5% higher, while apartment rents were 7.8% higher.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, Ms Randall said: “We’ve got 90,000 people on the social housing list, we’ve got 3,000 people in emergency accommodation, 1,000 children in emergency accommodation - where is the housing going to come from for these people?”