400% increase in people seeking help from Threshold

There has been a 400% increase in the number of people seeking help from Threshold because of rent increases.

The latest annual report for the national homeless charity shows 1,516 people sought advice over rent reviews during 2014 - up from 372 the previous year.

The first figures for the newly set up Tenancy Protection Service show it has helped nearly 3,000 people since starting in June 2014, and has kept 344 families in their homes by negotiating with landlords.

The service is run by Threshold in Dublin and Cork.

The Chief Executive of Threshold, Bob Jordan, has said there is been a huge increase in tenants facing rent hikes: “People at the lower end of the private rented market facing 20-30% rent increases due to the shortage of accommodation in urban sectors.

“In terms of numbers we had a 400% increase of people coming to us with that problem, who wanted us to talk to their landlord or get them increased rent supplement in order to keep them in their homes, so really the focus of thresholds work in 2014 and into 2015 has been preventing people from becoming homeless.”