The scale of the shortage in social housing is so great that it will take many years to resolve. A good start was made in the budget, however, when increases in capital investment of up to 40 per cent were announced and commitments given to provide funding of €2.2 billion by 2018. It was a more generous response than many seasoned social campaigners, including Fr Peter McVerry, had expected. But, as he pointed out in The Irish Times, the measures taken did not address the issue of rapidly rising rents that is adding to homeless numbers.
By concentrating its available resources on home building and job creation, the Government is clearly not going to raise rent allowances in the short term. There is no reason, however, why it should not legislate to control the rate of rent increases in an overheating market that will, inevitably, feed into higher wage demands and a growing incidence of homelessness. An extraordinary situation exists in the greater Dublin area where private rents are at or above pre-crash levels while house values reflect falls of up to 30 per cent. Fr McVerry has suggested linking future rent increases to the rate of inflation.
Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has spoken of publishing a comprehensive social housing strategy within the coming weeks. Greater clarity concerning what precisely is intended concerning contributions by local authorities; by private developers and through funding from a State development bank would be welcome. Withdrawal by previous governments from social housing provision created this situation. In the boom years, 20 per cent of homes in private estates were designated for social housing but only three per cent was delivered. Local authority rentals made up half of the private market. Some tenants are now being forced from their homes by rising rents and static State allowances. The Government has done well to embark on a significant social housing programme but problems created by rising rents remain to be addressed.