Speaking on the issue, Deputy Brady said:
“It is positive that 29 new cost rental units are being delivered in Bray. However, the reality is that the government’s income limits make no sense. For Wicklow, the threshold for accessing cost rental has been set at between €40,000 and €59,000. But when the rule that rent cannot exceed 35% of net income is applied, it completely locks people out. For example, the cost rental one-bed in Bray is set at €1,495 per month. That means you would need a net monthly income of around €4,271, which equates to a net salary of over €51,000 per year, or a gross salary of roughly €75,000 per year before tax. I am contacted regularly by constituents who fall between the €40,000-€59,000 income threshold the government has created, who are deemed not eligible due their income not being sufficient for the schemes”.
Deputy Brady said he has repeatedly raised the contradictions in this scheme with the Minister for Housing, who has confirmed that there will be no change to how these rents are calculated.
“These rents are based on the local market, typically 25% below private rents in the area. But that still leaves a huge gap. Anyone with an income above the €40,000 limit for social housing, who would otherwise qualify for HAP or other rent supports but earning below the €75,000 needed to access cost rental, is left with only one option which is the private rental sector. In Wicklow, the average rent is now over €2,000 per month. That perversely means the squeezed middle, who cannot access supports, are paying more for housing than those on higher incomes who can qualify for reduced rents under cost rental. It also rules the majority of single people out of these developments, who’s income would not meet the quota.”
Deputy Brady added that other European countries offer a very different model, one that is based on affordability rather than market rents.
“Across Europe, not-for-profit housing models exist where the cost of construction determines the rent. Here, the government refuses to go down that road for fear of competing with developers and institutional landlords. The result is a market-led model that traps people in insecurity and unaffordable rents. This system is deeply unfair, illogical, and unsustainable.”
Deputy Brady concluded:
“I am calling on the government to reassess how cost rental rents are calculated. If cost rental is to be a real solution, it must be based on the actual cost of construction, not on an artificial discount off already extortionate market rents. We need genuinely affordable homes for those on middle incomes who are locked out of every other form of support.”