HOUSING MINISTER EOGHAN Murphy has been urged to bring in a deposit protection scheme after it emerged that a private landlord is asking prospective tenants for two months’ deposit as well as first month’s rent.
National housing charity Threshold said it was very concerned that no law exists to ensure that just one month’s rent is sufficient for a deposit. It also said that tenants need to be protected from unscrupulous landlords.
Threshold chair, Dr Aideen Hayden said that the common practice of one month’s rent as a deposit needs to be consolidated in law.
She explained: “There is no law in relation to this. This needs to be addressed to protect tenants. The previous coalition Government in 2011 committed to the introduction of a deposit protection scheme and passed enabling legislation in 2015. However, the relevant section has yet to be activated.
“Threshold is deeply committed to the introduction of a deposit protection scheme, in particular as the loss of a deposit can be a cause of homelessness where a tenant does not have the resources to provide a deposit for a new lease.”
At the moment, there are 2,800 children homeless in Ireland.
The figures for homeless people staying in emergency accomodation in May were released last month, showing a small rise in the numbers of homeless families and children.
In total, there were 1,312 families with 2,777 children homeless staying in emergency accommodation in May.
This marks a small rise of 69 children from the numbers from April.
There were 4,922 homeless adults in emergency accommodation in May, a small drop on the previous month.
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