Mattie McGrath urges urgent rise in social housing income limits
Deputy Mattie McGrath criticised current income limits for social housing and called for them to be increased immediately, citing rising rents and inflation. He pressed the minister to publish and implement a completed review of income eligibility, saying current caps force families to pay untenable shares of their income on rent.
Call to increase income limits
McGrath highlighted the Tipperary County Council income caps he says are outdated - £25,000 for a single person and £27,500 for a family of two adults and two children - and noted they have not been reviewed since 2011. He argued that, with rising rents and the cost of living, those limits are unrealistic and inhumane.
Local housing shortage and pressures
He described severe local shortages, citing DAF.ie figures of just 16 properties available to rent across the county and only four in his own town of Clunmela. McGrath said there are 3,521 people on the approved housing list in the county and that constituency and doctor’s offices are overrun with people seeking help.
Affordability and rent-to-income ratios
Using a local example, McGrath said an average four-bedroom rental in County Tipperary costs approximately £1,200 per month, meaning a family on £28,000 would pay about 51% of their income on rent. He also cited a national average listed rent of €908, up 61% from its lowest rate, to underline a worsening rental crisis.
Review status and government response
The minister said the Department initiated a review under Housing for All and that the review has been completed and is under consideration, with decisions expected shortly. The minister stressed that the review will be judged in the context of wider interventions - record social housing construction, affordability measures including direct purchase and shared equity, and a new cost rental model - and noted measures brought in to protect renters during the COVID pandemic.
Housing for All and wider interventions
McGrath criticised the Housing for All name as inappropriate in the face of current shortages and affordability pressures, while the minister defended the plan as a holistic approach combining social, affordable and private housing streams backed by multi-annual funding. The minister said the suite of measures aims to cap increasing rents and expand supply.
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Minister, I want to ask you if you will increase the current income limits to qualify for social housing immediately, given the ongoing rising inflation and difficulties being experienced in meeting the rising costs of rent within the current income limits, and you will make a statement on the matter. Mr Bourke Thank you for the hearing and thank Deputy McGrath for his question. Applications for housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing Miscellaneous Provision Act 2009 and the associated social housing assessment regulations. The regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority in different bands according to each area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard household means policy. The income bands and the authority area assigned to each were based on an assessment of income needed to provide for a household's basic needs, plus a comparative analysis of the local authority rent cost of housing accommodation in the country. A blanket increase of €5,000 was introduced prior to the new system coming into operation. Housing for All, a new housing plan for Ireland, was published in September 2021, as you know, and is part of a broad suite of social housing reforms committed to reviewing income eligibility for housing. The review, which examined the efficiency of the current branding model and income limits applicable to local authorities, has been completed and Minister O'Brien is currently considering its findings and expects to make a decision shortly on the recommendations. The Minister, there is a serious disconnect in respect of the current income limits to qualify for social housing. The Tipperary County Council cap is £25,000 for a single person and £27,500 for an average family of two adults and two children. This has not been reviewed since 2011. Given the huge increase in the rents and the massive rates of inflation and cost of living, it is simply not in any way realistic to expect a family of two adults and two children to be expected to meet their housing needs and living expenses on an income of £27,500. It is just not possible. Will you, Minister, review this? You said you have done a review, but when are we going to see the review? It is causing a considerable problem, especially when we see the average four-bedroom house in the County Tipperary costing approximately £1,200 per month for rent. Meaning that a family with an income of £28,000 is expected to pay 51% of their income towards the rent of their property. This is just not possible and it is inhumane and it should not be accepted. So this review is eagerly awaited. Minister Bourke. Minister Bourke. I hear Deputy McGrath's points that he has made and that is why the Department and Minister O'Brien have initiated a review under Housing for All. It is also taken into the context of the wider global interventions we are making in housing from the record level of social housing construction to the affordability measures from direct purchase and shared equity and our new cost rental model which will be a game changer in terms of giving people secure tenure below the market rental rate. So all those interventions have to be judged with this review because when you see in terms of the scale of Housing for All, £4 billion multi-annual funding going into constructing record level of housing, Minister O'Brien has to base that on essentially the increasing rents which are capped by the new interventions and a number of pieces of legislation that we brought in to protect renters right through the COVID pandemic to ensure that they would not be evicted. So the review will be judged on shortly. Thank you. Mr. Prime Minister. Minister, I know that some of the NGOs come up with the acronym as Housing for All. That is a totally inappropriate name. In the face of significant increases in rent and cross-country temporary as well as considerable, as I said, increase in the cost of living, the income is just wholly inappropriate. I have said that. I reiterate I am calling on the Minister to act here as a matter of urgency. We keep talking about aspirations and good intentions, but they want to house people and people cannot afford the rent or cannot get half. According to DAF.ie, just 16 properties available to rent in the entire county of Tip of Dawn, from Callyconsure up to Laura. It is a huge county and indeed only four properties in Clunmela, my own town of Clunmela. There are 3,521 people on an approved housing list waiting for housing in Tip of Dawn. And rents, as I said, can't get listed to rent. It is a huge problem and it needs to be dealt with. The national average listed rent now is €908, up 61% from its lowest rate. And the property rental crisis is now worse. My office and every doctor's office is overrun with people and we can't do anything for them. And you have a strategy for housing for all. Housing for who, I say? Or when? Can I get any of my faster going? I mean, can I get any of my faster going? Talk. Mr Bourke. Thank you. I think it is a very appropriate name, housing for all, because in the context of a whole societal approach, it is very important that you have streams to have record level of social housing, affordable housing and also private housing. Because there are many people in society, too, who are unable, unfortunately, to reach the threshold to get a mortgage. And that is why we have a record level of affordable housing investment to meet that need. So I think in terms of housing for all, it is the most appropriate name of a document to capture society and respond to the needs of a demographic change in society that I can ever see. And the investment is backed up behind it. And as I said, this review has been completed and Minister O'Brien is currently assessing it and will make decisions in the context of the record levels of affordable housing that is being provided to the state and social housing. And that is the way the document will be judged on. Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you.
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