Introducing Cost Rental Homes to Ireland
One of the major policies that the Green Party has proposed and that we are implementing is the cost-rental model of housing. Further, in 2021, Ireland recorded the first time with 440 of these cost-rental homes. These homes charge rentals that are between 30-40% less than the market price, thus making it cheaper for the residents to be offered this type of residential accommodation.
Indeed, the 2010s was a lost decade when it came to housing in Ireland.
The number of houses supplied in Ireland has greatly reduced from an annual average completion of 60,200 houses in the 2000s to an average of 11,500 houses in the 2010s. This has significantly affected the Irish rental sector where the average rents paid across the state doubling between 2010 and the third quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat. According to the 2022/23 survey, the average private tenants paid 32.44 % of their monthly income to rent compared to 26.3 % in the year 2010.
One of the central Green Party policies that we are implementing is the cost rental model. First time in 2021, Ireland witnessed 440 cost-rental homes delivered. These homes offer rents of enhanced rates of 30-40% less the market price hence categorizing this form of residential rental housing. About the Housing for All plan, targets for cost-rental are raised from the current volume to 2,000 units per year. The Green Party would like to see this target increase even more and will be liaising with our Government partners to do so.
What is the cost of rental?
Cost rental is quality modern rental housing offered by the state. The term cost rental is because the rent to be charged will enable builders to recover the expenses incurred in putting up the accommodation through the life of the long-term building loan. This makes it possible for government agencies and local authorities to be able to plan for affordable housing in the long run and to keep on constructing housing even during a decline. The type is mixed-use, mixed tenure with different sorts of population to go for work. It has turned out to be a very efficient means of offering shelter in many European countries. The Austrians have experimented with this type of accommodation for 100 years now and it offers decent, secure, and affordable accommodation to over 60% of Viennese residents.
Cost rental is better for our health:
The lack of public housing is also affecting our health in a negative way. When it comes to stress, 78% of homeowners considered themselves to be not stressed, compared to only 58% of renters. Living in privately rented homes has also been linked to faster biological aging – a study of DNA revealed that private renting is associated with twice the aging effect of obesity and half that of smoking.
