31% of households are currently renting in Longford and 26% in Westmeath. There are also a number of adult children living with their parents who would like to move out but can’t afford to and others, who might couch surf, live in overcrowded accommodation or emigrate because there are no suitable homes for rent available.
So what’s happening and how can we address it?
There are not enough rental homes being built. The Council’s in both counties are increasing social housing supply but there is very little private rental accommodation becoming available. One reason for this may be the cost of building and maintaining homes for rent is higher than the rent (less tax) that a landlord would get in the midlands. So it’s not attractive or profitable right now for investors. It is not great to think of homes making profit for people but that is the reality of the private landlords.
The solution to encourage more private landlords would be to a. lower construction costs or b. Have higher rents (which I am certainly not advocating for).
The real alternative that I see is for the government to get involved is building public homes for rent The current government have rolled out what is called cost rental homes which is making a difference for some and have tried to encourage apartment building in regional towns through the Croí Conaithe scheme but they are yet to provide the scale of rental housing needed. .
This would be a truly public housing model, where everyone can access regardless of income. The rents would have to be set based on the cost and maintenance of the properties but have an affordable limit. So where the rent would exceed say 25% of a person’s monthly income the balance would be made up by the state. It would be a type of social housing that would be more equal for everyone and also remove the divisions that we currently have in housing provisions. This type of housing could be longterm and secure removing the fear that people might have about eviction notices.
A secure and comfortable home is one of the basic human needs. I am committed to advocate for this and work with whoever might be the next government to make this happen.
