Dublin City Council to raise rents for more than 68,000 social housing tenants next year

"DCC rents social homes at a rate that depends on the income of the occupants, known as a "differential" rent system. At the moment, rents are charged at 15pc of the principal earner's salary, with the first €32 a week exempt from this calculation, and subsidiary earners are charged in the same way up to a maximum of €21 a week. Up to four subsidiary earners can be included in the calculation, but the fifth and onwards don't count towards the rental figure."

"For self-employed tenants like taxi drivers and tradespeople, the council currently assumes that they earn either €500 or €560 a month. These figures are all set to increase, with the primary earner now set for an 18pc rate on everything exceeding the first €50 a week. Subsidiary earners will also now contribute up to €40 a week, with the four-person cap lifted. Self-employed individuals will now be assumed to earn a higher rate of €700 a month, with the council saying the old figures were "not in line with national statistics"."

"Under the new model, a principal earner in a single occupant household earning a net income of €244 a month can expect their rent to rise 10pc, from €31.80 to €34.92. For a household with one principal earner on €961 a month and two adult subsidiary earners with a collective income of €900 a month, their rent would increase 35pc from €181 to €244. With more subsidiary earners in the equation, the increase could climb well beyond 50pc."

DCC currently uses a differential rent system charging 15% of the principal earner's salary with the first €32 a week exempt and subsidiary earners charged up to €21 weekly, counting up to four subsidiary earners. The proposal raises the primary earner rate to 18% on income above €50 weekly, increases subsidiary contributions to €40 weekly, and removes the four-person cap. Assumed monthly income for self-employed tenants will increase to €700 and will rise by 2.5% annually from 2027 alongside subsidiary caps. Example calculations show rent rises from about 10% to over 50% for multi-earner households.

Read at Irish Independent