Sinn Fein TD for Meath West Johnny Guirke has said that rents in County Meath are so high, ordinary families will struggle to keep a roof over their heads.
He told Meath Live, ‘This week the Residential Tenancies board released its Q4 rent report for 2022 and it showed an 8% increase in Meath rents with the average rent now standing at €1,462.18.
‘The national average also showed a rise of 7.5% with rents at €1,507.
‘Unfortunately, many families will be left behind through the exorbitant rents they face, but none more so than in Meath as we only lag behind Kildare €1,546.81 and Dublin €2,063.07 as we are now higher to rent than in Galway who stand at €1,364.59.
‘These increases in the rent market will do nothing to help struggling families as the level of notice to quit currently working its way through the system, particularly since the Government ended the ban on no fault evictions, will make it even harder for families to secure alternative tenancies.
‘With the threat of homelessness and evictions looming for many hard pressed people, all that this Government can offer is a review of the sector, This is simply not good enough.
‘It’s becoming all too predictable now in the rental sector, for anyone who is familiar with the recent trends of the private rental sector.
This confirms once again the lack of any meaningful plan to address the urgent challenges of rising rents, insecure tenancies and a shrinking private rental sector. ‘
