Spike in rents following Kelly’s botched handling of rent certainty – FF

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Environment and Local Government Barry Cowen TD says the recent surge in rents is as a result of Minister Alan Kelly’s botched handling of rent certainty.

The latest rental report issued by Daft.ie shows that rents have surged across the country, with cities such as Cork and Galway experiencing their largest quarterly increase in over a decade.

Deputy Cowen commented, “The latest rental report issued by Daft.ie shows that the housing crisis has spread far beyond Dublin. In just three months rents in Cork have surged by 7% while Galway has seen a similar increase of 6%.

“It is no coincidence that the largest rent increases in over ten years were recorded when Minister Kelly was fumbling and fooling with rent controls. Many people warned the Minister that he was playing with fire when he started kite-flying on the issue of rent certainty while having no concrete proposals to back up his plan.

Minister Kelly has been trying to introduce rent certainty for 18 months now and he has utterly failed to achieve what he set out to do. He has little to show for his continuous grandstanding since he came to office. He was forced into a humiliating climb-down by Fine Gael and had to settle for watered down proposals. In the meantime his mishandling of the situation has led to more hardship for tenants across the country.

“It’s alarming to see rents increase at such a rapid pace. It’s a clear sign that the Government has failed to get to grips with the housing crisis. We are still waiting for realistic proposals to tackle the lack of housing supply, which is the fundamental cause of increasing rents.”