Government plan to collect water charges from private tenants through private landlords will worsen already disastrous housing crisis
In a statement, Richard Boyd Barrett has called on the government to hold an emergency debate on housing and homelessness in the Dail this week, following the tragic discovery this morning of a dead homeless man in a doorway on Molesworth St, opposite the Dail.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said that the tragic death just metres away from the Dail symbolized, in the most tragic way, the failure of the government to mount an emergency response to a homelessness and housing crisis that was totally out of control.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said also that the fanfare around last’s weeks newly published government strategy on social housing was totally unjustified and that the plans announced by the government would neither address the short term emergency or the longer term crisis in the provision of social housing and affordable accommodation.
Deputy Boyd Barrett also condemned the government proposal to collect water charges from householders in private rented accommodation via their landlords, saying that this would also worsen an already disastrous crisis of affordability in the private rented sector and produce even more homelessness.
Deputy Boyd Barrett’s comments come as representatives of private landlords have indicated that they will need to impose an additional water deposit of up to €1000 on private tenants, if the government persist with their plan and a survey by the voluntary housing association NABCO showing that one quarter of all tenants in private rented accommodation fear losing their homes as a result of spiralling rents.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said:
“The tragic discovery of this homeless man found dead just meters away from the Dail symbolizes in the most terrible way how utterly disastrous the homelessness crisis now is and the failure of the government to mount an emergency response. The government must this week hold an emergency debate on the housing and homelessness crisis with a view to taking emergency measures to deal with it.
It is really very strange and telling that even before this tragedy, that the government had not penciled in an opportunity this week to debate this much hyped new social housing strategy, when the situation is so bad and many of us have been trying to point out that the plan is totally inadequate and flawed.
We had a lot of completely unjustified fanfare last week about the new social housing strategy. Some of us pointed out within hours of its publication that this strategy would neither deal with the short term homelessness emergency or even the longer term crisis of social housing provision. This morning’s tragedy is a terrible confirmation of that fact.
Unless, the government immediately requisitions buildings to provide places for those in the worst need and simultaneously raises the rent allowance caps we are going to see more tragedies and more people driven into homelessness.
The government’s proposal to demand that landlords collect water charges from private tenants and the possibility that this will take the form of a water deposit is another disaster that will worsen the housing and homelessness crisis.
It is already virtually impossible for people on very low incomes to source affordable private rented accommodation, particularly if they are dependent on rent allowance. If a further cost in the form of a water deposit is added to this already disastrous situation, people on the lowest incomes will be utterly priced out of the private rented sector. Just when you think the housing and homelessness crisis can’t get any worse, the government introduces a measure that will actually make it worse.
All the overblown hype and unjustified fanfare made by the government last week about their new social housing strategy masks the fact government policy is actually worsening the housing and homelessness crisis. The very least the government can do, particularly as we move towards Christmas, is allow an emergency debate to focus minds and action to deal with this totally dire situation.”
People Before Profit