Cuts to Rent Supplement will lead to more Homelessness: MakeRoom

Issued : Tuesday 20 October, 2009

MakeRoom, the campaign alliance of Focus Ireland, the Simon Communities of Ireland, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and Threshold have today urged the Minister for Social and Family Affairs not to make further cuts in rent supplement in the upcoming budget. The campaign alliance said that, 'More Cuts to rent supplement will lead to more homelessness.'

Speaking for the campaign, Aideen Hayden said:

'Rent supplement is a vital safety net for many of our poorest households preventing them from becoming homeless. It also supports people who have experienced homelessness in the past to move on to independent living. Cutting rent supplement in the December budget will make it harder for people to keep up with their rent payments and could lead to more homelessness. There is widespread public sympathy for people who are unable to keep up with their mortgage payments, and we share these concerns but believe that they need to be widened to those people who rent their homes and risk losing them due to recession. Losing your home is a disaster whether you own it or rent it.

'Rent supplement has already been cut twice in the last 12 months. Government has justified these cuts by pointing to a decline in general market rents. However, there is no statistical data available to show that rent levels for the lower end of the market have actually decreased.

'In the 2009 Budget the minimum contribution to be made by tenants to landlords was increased from €14 per week to €18 per week.

'In the Supplementary Budget of April this year three significant changes were made to the Rent Supplement Scheme resulting in vulnerable tenants paying more and the state paying less to support such households. The minimum contribution was further increased, from €18 to €24, the maximum rental amounts the State is willing to pay were reduced by between 6% and 10%, and current Rent Supplement payments being made to tenants were reduced by 8%.

'The combined impact of the changes to Rent Supplement in 2008 and 2009 has been to force greater economic hardship on many of the country's poorest people.

'MakeRoom fears that this increased hardship has increased the number of people at risk of homelessness. We also firmly believe that further cuts to Rent Supplement will lead to more homelessness.

'In light of the significant changes made to Rent Supplement the last 12 months MakeRoom is calling for no more cuts to be made to this vital safety net in December's budget.

'We are also calling on the Department of Social and Family Affairs, in conjunction with the social partners, to conduct an impact assessment of the 2008 and 2009 changes to rent supplement on claimants before any further changes to the benefit are considered.' ENDS

To read the pre budget submission in full click here