Rising rents ‘crippling’ Mayo renters - Rose Conway Walsh

MAYO Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh, has said that renters can’t afford another five years of rent hikes with new tenancies in Mayo up by 6.8 percent.

The Mayo TD was responding to the latest Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent report showing rents rising across the state for new and existing tenancies. The average rent in Mayo now currently stands at €1,061 per month, according to the report. 

“People in Mayo and across rural Ireland are already crippled with the hikes in fuel costs introduced by the Fianna Fáil Fine Gael coalition, which Sinn Féin would scrap. They can’t afford another five years of rent increases. But that is what they will get if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael form the next Government,” said Deputy Conway-Walsh.

She said that increasing the Rent Tax Credit ‘would do nothing for renters’ without a ban on increases.

Individuals can claim a maximum of €1,000 under the tax credit while a couple who are jointly assessed for tax can claim up to €2,000.

Sinn Féin has proposed a three-year ban on rent increases and a fully refundable tax credit to alleviate rising rents.

Westport is currently the only area in Mayo subject to caps on rent increases as the county’s only Rent Pressure Zone.