Rory Hearne: Domestic and Ukrainian refugee housing crisis needs Covid-style reaction

Ireland's rising rents, which are now 100% higher than they were in 2011, are a social emergency, writes Rory Hearne

Why are we not, in this emergency, setting up a State construction company that could ramp up the refurbishment of vacant and derelict homes and build affordable homes on a huge scale?

The latest rental report from the Residential Tenancies Board shows the staggering heights rents have now reached and just how broken both Government housing policy and the housing market are. 

Rents are pushing tenants into poverty, homelessness, emigration, and relying on soup kitchens and food banks to try and survive. Many renters are families with children. This is a social emergency.