Rents in Galway have jumped by almost 11 per cent in the county and 10 per cent in the city in the last year, according to the latest Daft.ie rental report, leading a Galway senator to demand Government intervention on the issue.
Sinn Féin Seanad spokesperson on Housing Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said the Government’s attempts to address "spiralling rents" were "failing miserably", resulting in the highest rent increases in the State on record.
The report also states that Galway rents are up by half, compared to their lowest point in early 2012. Rents in that period in Galway city have risen by 48 per cent and are now 15 per cent above their previous peak. The figures also show a hike in rents in the last quarter of 2016 – up to 17 per cent in some cases.
Sen Ó Clochartaigh called this "a damning indictment of Government policy which has been supported all the way by Fianna Fáil", pointing out how the two largest parties in the Dáil blocked Sinn Féin attempts to introduce rent certainty four times in the last year.
"The result of these increases is evident in the pressures on people on the lower end of the scale who cannot afford the exorbitant rents being charged," he said, "and they are forcing more and more people into homelessness."
He added that the decision by the Galway County Council to increase differential rates in its rented houses from €84 to a maximum of €130 from March 10 will also "increase pressure on hard pressed Galway households".
