Rent to increase by 25pc for council tenants in south Dublin
One councillor said it will be like ‘a dagger through the heart of the working class’
South Dublin County Council (SDCC) will become the fourth Dublin council to see rent increases this year, after it was announced to councillors at a housing meeting on May 14.Currently, SDCC charges rent at 10pc of a household’s overall income, this will increase to 12.5pc. An additional charge of 10pc applied to subsidiary earners or additional people in the household who earn over a certain salary range (€40,000 and €47,000), will also go up to 12.5pc.“This increase in rents is like a dagger through the heart of working-class communities,” said Sinn Féin councillor William Carey.“It’s coming at a time when working people are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis that this government is failing to handle.”A report presented to councillors also said that a per week cap of €40 on how much subsidiary earners are charged, and an earlier fixed charge of €3 will be removed.Changes to the council’s rent scheme is an executive function of the council, and not a decision that councillor’s can vote on.“It’s an absolute disgrace that council management are increasing rent when we’re facing a cost-of-living and fuel crisis, we don’t even know what is going to happen towards the end of the year,” said Independent councillor Madeleine Johansson. "We have families who are really struggling to pay their bills, heat their homes, or feed their families. And these families are now going to be asked ot pay more in rent.“I think it’s shocking that these decisions can be made by the chief executive. They would argue that there have been input from the councillors, but there should be a vote on this by councillors because I think this is a political decision.”The changes will apply to over 20,000 accounts under the council and will impact tenancies under Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), those on the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the council’s own tenants.Council management said that decuctions and discounts will me made available for families with younder children – with children under 18 now excluded from rent assessment, for pensioners and for those rightsizing their homes.Cllr Carey said the increases will put “huge strains” on families with adult children.“This can lead to family households paying as much as 20pc of their income on rent going forward. Particularly those households with adult children who are forced to stay at home due to the unaffordability of the private market,” said Cllr Carey.Increases in rent for other Dublin councils came into effect earlier this year, impacting larger families in social housing.In April, changes in Dublin City Council’s scheme saw its cap of €21 on subsidiary earners go up to €40. Now any number of earning family members can be charged for their income, while the primary earner is charged 18pc (an increase from 15pc) of their weekly income.In November, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council decided to scrap a cap of €20 and Fingal County Council increased its from €40 to €60 later this year, and the rate on net income will increase from 12pc to 14.5pc.Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
