22 August 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Cork North Central Solidarity TD Mick Barry this morning said that Government housing policy is creating a “disaster” for renters and a “paradise” for landlords.
Mick Barry TD
His comments came in the wake of the new daft.ie report which shows rents to have risen 12% year on year to June with a new all-time high national rental average of 1159 euro per month.
Deputy Barry said: “More money is leaving renters pockets than ever before, more money is piling into landlords bank accounts than ever before. The Government have helped create a disaster for renters and a paradise for landlords.”
Deputy Barry demanded two housing policy changes to be implemented without delay: draconian rent controls and a massive programme of local authority housebuilding.
He said that “draconian rent controls” should include not just a freezing of rents but a lowering of rents to the level of several years ago.
He said that availability of rental properties is currently at an all-time low (below 3000 nationally) and that this crisis can only be addressed by putting in place a massive programme of local authority housebuilding.