People Before Profit councillors have slammed proposals that would see rent increases for almost all of the city’s 68,000 council tenants, with some households facing hikes of up to 35%.
Under plans presented to councillors, the city’s differential rent scheme (unchanged for over 30 years) would be overhauled so that:
- The principal tenant’s rent rises from 15% to 18% of net income;
- The weekly maximum charge for subsidiary earners doubles from €21 to €40 and the maximum collected from subsidiary earners in a household is removed totally (currently €84 per household per week);
- Self-employed tenants are assumed to earn €700 per week for assessment purposes, up from €500 or €560 per week for people with skilled trades; and
- Caps on maximum weekly rent per housing type are removed.
The new system would bring in an estimated €35.5 million extra per year, largely from working-class families, to fill a €55.5 million “funding gap” in DCC’s housing maintenance budget.
Cllr Conor Reddy (People Before Profit’s Group Leader on Dublin City Council , Dublin North West) said:
“This is the biggest rent hike council tenants have seen in thirty years, and it’s a blanket increase that punishes tenants for Government neglect.
Whether you live in a brand-new A-rated home or an old, cold, damp flat, you’ll pay more.
People are already struggling. We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, close to 500,000 people were in arrears on their energy bills in September, grocery prices have shot up, and many families are now hanging by a thread. DCC tenants haven’t got this money to pay.
The shortfall in the housing maintenance budget isn’t caused by tenants; it’s the result of decades of underfunding by central government. The State should fund its own housing properly, not squeeze those living in it.”
Cllr Reddy highlighted the issue of “voids” as proof that Government penny-pinching is driving the problem, noting that:
“The Department only provides an average of €11,000 in funding per vacant home for refurbishment, even though the real cost of each refurbishment is around €30,000. That’s why thousands of council homes lie empty while close to 12,000 people are homeless in Dublin.
Cllr Hazel De Nortúin (Dublin South Central), People Before Profit representative on the Council’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee, added:
“This is austerity by stealth. Council management are being forced to act like accountants because the State has walked away from its responsibility to fund public housing.
The Council’s job is to provide safe, affordable homes, not to claw money out of tenants to balance the books.
People Before Profit will oppose these changes at every stage and campaign alongside tenants to stop them. We need a national maintenance and retrofit programme, funded by taxing wealth, particularly the wealth held by vulture funds and corporate landlords, not working-class tenants.”
People Before Profit said it will oppose the proposals throughout DCC’s Budget Process, while calling for a national housing maintenance fund and increased funding for direct labour employment of skilled tradespeople to tackle damp, mould and disrepair in the city’s ageing housing stock.
“There’s no shortage of money in this country,” Cllr Reddy said. “There’s just a shortage of political will to make those who can afford it pay their share.”
Councillors Reddy and De Nortúin have launched a petition which People Before Profit will be pushing around the City. The pair are discussing a protest outside the Budget meeting on the 24th, in addition to a protest already called for December 1st at City Hall.