A huge jump in the number of older people living in rental accommodation and a significant increase in the rents tenants pay have been revealed in the latest Census 2022 data, sparking sharp criticism of the Government’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis.
The number of people aged 65 and over who are living in rented accommodation has increased by 83 per cent since the last census, bringing the number to almost 17,000 households. Meanwhile, Ireland’s average weekly rent has increased by 37 per cent to €273 between 2016 and 2022.
The highest average weekly rent in the country in 2022 was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at €442, up 32 per cent since 2016. The lowest was in Donegal at €134, up 29 per cent.
The amount of accommodation owned without a mortgage or loan increased by 11 per cent to almost 680,000, while the number owned with a mortgage or loan fell by 1 per cent.
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The Government defended its record on housing and support for renters amid Opposition criticism focused on the statistics on renters.
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman, Eoin Ó Broin, said the Census 2022 report on housing in Ireland highlighted “some very worrying trends”, including the increases in the number of older renters and hikes in the cost of rent.
He argued that the figures in the Central Statistics Office report were “a damning incitement of seven years of failed Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy”.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said Ireland’s system of care for older people was predicated on the assumption that they would own their own home and described the increase in the numbers renting as “staggering” and a “ticking time bomb”.
“So many people – young and old – are suffering due to the broken private rented sector and the lack of housing supply,” she said.
Nat O’Connor, a policy specialist at Age Action Ireland, said Government policy needed to change from short term to long term in response to renting.
“We haven’t put in place the kind of law we need for long-term tenancies where you might move into a place and live there for 20 or 30 years, you might live the rest of your life as an older person, for example,” Mr O’Connor said.
“We don’t have the legal protection and we don’t have the certainty of rent that allows that to happen,” he added, saying that this regulation is urgent.
He added: “I’ve personally spoken to someone in their early 60s who said to me ‘I have no idea how I’m going to pay the rent once I stop working’.”
Mike Allen, director of advocacy for Focus Ireland, said the census confirmed “a great polarisation in people’s housing experiences”.
“We have a housing crisis, but there’s a huge number of people who own their house outright in Ireland who are completely outside of that crisis.” But he said “their children may well be in the crisis”.
A Department of Housing statement highlighted “record State investment” available for housing with €4.5 billion committed this year. It said “the most effective way to reduce and stabilise rents in the medium to long term is to increase supply and accelerate delivery of housing... and that is happening.”
It also said more homes were “being built and bought than in a generation” and how the 375,000 over-65s shown by the census to own their home outright was “the highest number ever”.
The department also said the Government had extended Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ) until the end of 2024 with reductions in rent increases allowed as a result.
