Low-income tenants face eviction or homelessness because they cannot afford spiralling rents, national housing organisation Threshold claimed today.
Unveiling its 2006 annual report, Threshold also called for a property "NCT" to check the quality of accommodation every four years.
Threshold chairwoman Aideen Hayden
Threshold chairperson Aideen Hayden said most of the organisation's clients are on low incomes and are increasingly finding themselves in arrears or with debt problems.
"Because of the very real prospect of eviction and homelessness now facing some tenants, the introduction of an emergency payment is critical to offer a safety net for these people."
Rents rose nationally by 10 per cent in 2006, and increases are expected to average 12 per cent this year.
Threshold said some of its clients have experienced increases of up to 20 per cent. The number of tenants who contacted Threshold about rent arrears problems increased by 25 per cent in 2006, and it recorded 239 illegal evictions.
Ms Hayden said that those most affected by rent inflation were the working poor who she said are being squeezed out of the private rental market.
Threshold also called for reform of the means testing of rent supplements and for more affordable rented accommodation. "Offering incentives through the tax code to employers - including statutory organisations - to provide low rent accommodation for workers helps to fill this gap," she said.
Ms Hayden also criticised lack of progress in the Government's "Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities" scheme to pilot initiatives to promote affordable rented accommodation.
PA