Galway rents up 14.5 per cent

By Tim Ryan

Rents in County Galway have risen 14.5% in the last year – with landlords maximising income by putting seven beds into three bedrooms.

That’s what Sinn Fein Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh told the Upper House last week during a debate on rented accommodation.

He pointed out that a search for available three bed properties in Galway city on daft.ie showed landlords are seeking up to €2,200 a month for a very ordinary three bedroom house, with seven beds in the three rooms.

“Recent comments by the Taoiseach on the ability of people on average wage to buy what he called an affordable house of €315,000 show how out of touch he and Government are from the reality of the national housing crisis,” he said.

“I note that Fianna Fáil has commented this morning on these figures calling them ‘scandalous’, yet at the same time it has opposed every effort by Sinn Féin to address the underlying issues of soaring rents and family evictions.”

He said Sinn Féin had introduced numerous Bills and proposals in the Houses of the Oireachtas on rent control and rent certainty, homelessness, protecting mortgage holders and so on, but the real scandal is that Fianna Fáil had supported Fine Gael to defeat these measures every time.

“Our proposals would have saved young families thousands of euros, allowing them to save for deposits and give them some hope that they may at some stage escape the clutches of greedy landlords,” he said. “Fianna Fáil is as much to blame for this appalling situation as Fine Gael.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.