Government is making housing crisis worse

I FIND myself of similar mind to Patrick Burke, the director of Threshold (Irish Examiner letters, August 3) in his concern for many families and households when the Rent Supplement Scheme is introduced.

New proposals to reform the Government’s rent supplement scheme will result in the already overburdened council housing lists being overwhelmed completely. Under the plan, councils will progressively assume responsibility for meeting the long-term needs of 20,000 households who have depended on the rent supplement for 18 months.

The new rules mean rent supplements will be denied, after 18 months, at which point local authorities are being encouraged to enter public-private partnerships that could be financed, developed and operated, on a long-term basis, exclusively by local authorities.