ALL local election candidates running for seats on Limerick City and County Council should be obliged to declare their property interests and in particular whether or not they are currently landlords.
Thatโs the view of Sinn Fรฉin Limerick City North candidate Sharon Benson who says that landlords have been the big winners in the current housing crisis.
โA Daft.ie report this week shows landlords in Limerick raised rents by 16.7 per cent in the past year alone.ย The housing crisis has gripped Limerick City tighter than most places with many struggling to pay high rents, and others finding it impossible to secure suitable homes for their families,โ she claimed.
โLandlords have been the big winner as a result of this crisis. I am calling on all the candidates running for seats on Limerick City and County Council to declare whetherย or notย they are currently a landlord.โ
The Caherdavin-based candidate revealed that through her work inย Deputy Maurice Quinlivanโsย constituency office, she meets families who have been forced out of their rented homes due to landlords hiking up the rent to extortionate levels.
โMany moreย are being forced to liveย in sub-standard conditions, often with no heating or issues with damp and mould,ย because theirย landlordsย are refusing to carry out repairs. Tenants worry that if they complain, they could be turfedย outย on the street.
โAlthough I fully recognise these unscrupulous landlords only represent a small fraction of the totalย number,ย it is a real problem in Limerickย City. It is only right and proper that all candidates running in the local elections in Limerick declare their property interests for theย sake of transparency.
โThe five Sinn Fรฉin candidates running in the Limerick City wards are not landlords, and we are happy to declare that at this stage. We think others should do likewise,โ she said.
Meanwhile, Labour Party Housing spokesperson Jan OโSullivan has criticised the Government for persisting in pouring more money into the pockets of private landlords rather than ramping up construction of social and affordable homes on publicly owned land.
โThe latest figures for housing delivery reveal that 69 per cent of the homes delivered came through the Housing Assistance Payment. This pours money straight into the pockets of private landlords.ย It is not sustainable and it is not good value for money,โ she declared.
โThe State owns enough land to build enough social and affordable homes to solve the problem.ย With a recovered economy, the growing dependence on HAP is the wrong policy.ย The โgoing in the right directionโ argument just doesnโt stand up,โ she concluded.
