A Clare Dáil Deputy has said that average rents of €1,118 per month in Clare are not normal and that it does not have to be this way.
Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan was responding to the latest figures published by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), which show that renters in new tenancies in Clare are now paying €1,118 more in rent per year, an increase of 0.2% compared to last year.
She said that it does not have to be this way and urged the government to listen to Sinn Féin, and cut rents and ban increases for three years.
Ms McGettigan said: “An average rent of €1,118 in Clare is not normal. The latest RTB figures show that rents for new tenants in Clare rose by 0.2% in the last 12 months and 3.9% for existing tenants.
“This means that renters in Clare are now paying €13,416 more a year in rent because of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It’s a rip-off. Once again, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are making life harder for renters, who now have even higher rents and even greater insecurity.
“How are regular working people expected to afford these rents? How are they supposed to save for a deposit to buy a home? It doesn’t have to be this way. This can be sorted.”
“We need to cut rents and ban increases for three years. We need to give young people a chance,” Ms McGettigan added.