People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett has said, in reaction to the government’s announcement that they are to increase the number of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs), that the Ministers proposals are “more pathetic half measures” and an admission of the failure of the government to control rents or provide affordable accommodation.
This inadequate response comes despite an 8% increase in rents in the first quarter of 2019 from 2018. The Minister’s refusal to freeze rents shows that government’s half measures in dealing with the rising unaffordability of rental accommodation is failing renters.
Deputy Boyd Barrett urged the Minister to listen to some of the proposals that People Before Profit have been pushing for the last number of years- such as a rent freeze like what has been done in Berlin recently and for a major public and affordable house building programme where affordability is linked to income.
He said that the Minister needs to scrap the proposed idea of Co-Living and direct the state to build affordable public housing and affordable rental accommodation.
He said: “Minister Murphy and his government’s refusal to look at effective measures to bring down the cost of rent and their tinkering around the edges will provide very little comfort for the many people in this country who are having to deal with unaffordable rents or who are dealing with the looming threat of being made homeless.
“If the Minister is concerned about supply issues, then it is logical for the state to build directly.
“I would ask Minister Murphy to take on board the many proposals that we have made over the last number of years such as a rent freeze like what has recently been done in Berlin.
“We have said that if the government were to freeze rents and bring them back to affordable levels, build state lead public housing on public land so that people can afford to buy their own house then we could see a way out from the housing and rental crisis. The Minister needs to ditch the co-living proposal which is essentially a proposal for the tenements of the 21st century. These co-living developments are certainly not the answer.”
