‘Generation Rent has been failed,’ says Tipperary Sinn Féin activist

Thurles Sinn Féin activist Dan Harty has said the Government has failed Generation Rent in Tipperary.

“In an RTB quarterly report earlier this month, we saw that Tipperary had the third highest rent increase rate in the country at 14.1%, which left average rents in the county standing at €939 per month.

“On Sunday, July 23, 2023, there was only one three-bed property available to rent in Thurles on property site daft.ie, and the rental cost was over €1500 per month.

 The housing crisis is biting hard in Tipperary with individuals, couples and young families trapped in a situation where they must pay unaffordable rents with little prospect of ever affording their own home”.

 “Threshold’s annual renter sentiment survey, We are Generation Rent, released late last week, shows that just 17% of people are renting by choice. Over 70% are renting because they can’t afford their own home or access public housing”.“

“According to Threshold, renters are now paying over 30% of their incomes on rent, with over half now feeling insecure in their tenancies.

“These stats show some of the pressures felt by Generation Rent, who are being priced out of the market and forced to become long-term renters in a rental market that is seeing an unprecedented shortage of supply, which is turn, driving up rents.

“The Government needs to intervene in the housing crisis and provide a weighty housing budget that would allow the state and local authorities to increase the supply of public and affordable homes. We don’t need any more tinkering around the edges. 

“We need a new departure and an ambitious plan that will have an impactful effect on house prices, rental costs and access to public housing.”