Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow, John Brady, has warned that recent Residential Tenancy Board data, including a 6.5% rent increase on existing tenancies in Wicklow, a 5.1% rise on new tenancies, and a 35% national jump in eviction notices, reflects the tragic reality already unfolding locally.
Deputy Brady said:
“The figures bear out what has become depressingly familiar to us in my constituency office and is further proof that the government’s housing plan is not working.
“Over recent weeks, we have been dealing with a significant uptick in notices of termination, often because landlords wish to sell.
“This, as well as skyrocketing rents, is pushing people deeper into insecurity and risk of homelessness. These are not abstract numbers. These are real families, real people, facing the threat of eviction before Christmas with nowhere to go.
“There is now virtually no private rental accommodation available in Wicklow, and absolutely no capacity in emergency accommodation to put a roof over the head of those made homeless.
“Local authorities are now resorting to simply handing people self-accommodation letters, telling them to find emergency homeless accommodation themselves. The reality is there is none.
“The government’s response to the housing crisis has punished renters even further, and they've handed €640m of taxpayers money to developers in a VAT cut for apartments that are already being built.
“From March 2026, landlords will also be allowed to reset rents to the highest market level for new tenants. For many this will mean a massive rent hike at the start of a new tenancy, everyone else will be hit at the end of the six years.
“An average new rental in Wicklow already costs an eye-watering €21,200 a year.
“This situation requires urgent action from the Minister now. He must immediately move to institute a ban on no-fault evictions until the housing and homelessness crisis is brought under control.
“Social and emergency homeless capacity across Wicklow must also be rapidly expanded, to ensure that individuals and families displaced from the private rental sector are not left to fend for themselves.
“Wicklow cannot be left to suffer because this Government refused to act when warnings were sounded.” ENDS