Meeting will be held to discuss 25% rent hike by local authority

Councillors will meet with the council today to discuss the proposed 25 per cent rent hike set to be implemented.

The council has put forward a proposed rent increase for homes under the differential rent scheme following a review, and homes could be charged up to 25 per cent of their income or more, having previously charged 10 per cent.

The charge on a household’s overall income is set to rise to 12.5 per cent and will be complemented by an additional 12.5 per cent charge placed on extra people in the home – meaning that many households will see a strong increase.

Tenancies under schemes like Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) will be affected, with thousands of accounts set to be affected.

A block of councillors called for a meeting through Section 140 of the Local Government Act 2001, and the meeting was agreed by the council following a threat of legal action.

Councillor Jess Spear described the prospect that the rents will be increased without consultation as “unacceptable.”

Cllr Spear said: “It’s completely unacceptable that the management is going to subvert local democracy and increase rents for 20,000 households with no discussion or consultation with tenants.”

The Tallaght Central councillor also noted that it comes at a time when people are struggling with the cost of living, through electricity, heating, groceries and more, and also in the midst of a housing crisis.

These councillors had pointed to a motion passed in February calling for such consultation and utilised Section 140 of the Local Government Act 2001 to call for a meeting.

The differential rent scheme was set to be reviewed after the budget for 2026 was adopted, and the February motion had called for discussion with tenants’ unions, representative bodies and other related organisations.

The local authority eventually agreed to a meeting with the concerned elected members after an initial refusal.

SDCC Chief Executive Colm Ward stated in correspondence with the councillor block that the council will hold the meeting but that the motion remains “unactionable” as rent scheme changes are an executive function.

The Chief Executive said in response: “I remain fully mindful of your important role in exercising your democratic mandate, which is central to the effective functioning of local government, and indeed appropriate use of section 140, but I would respectfully suggest that due consideration and judgement on its use and the ultimate effects therein should be carefully considered.

“In this case, should the motion be passed, it is not actionable for the reasons outlined earlier and therefore would not give effect to any material action or outcome by the executive.”

In preparing the scheme, the council stated that it assessed several factors such as household income distribution across all tenancy types, including HAP and RAS and rent levels relative to new household income.

The council noted that the scheme had been brought to the Housing Strategic Policy Committee, which includes councillors as well as community, trade union and other representatives.

Councillor William Carey noted that the differential rent scheme was brought in to help people with less means avail of housing.

Cllr Carey warned that the proposed increase will bring the council’s offering more in line with the private market and further away from what it was intended to do.

He said: “If we continue on in just pushing rent up in in the social sector, then it is bringing us into line with the private rental market, which in our view is a huge mistake socially and economically.”

A meeting is scheduled for 3.30pm today Thursday 25 at County Hall on the matter.