“While I welcome the inclusion at last of Arklow in the rent pressure zone areas whereby rent increases are limited to 4% per annum, I am very worried about the Governments inability to tackle the most serious element of the rental crisis in Arklow and that is the lack of supply.
Today as Arklow enters the rent pressure zone areas, there are only 4 properties to rent in Arklow and all are €1,100 or more per month. This combined with landlords now looking for a deposit and a month in advance are making the rental market in Arklow out of reach for most tenants.
We need to encourage landlords to remain and to enter the rental market in all towns in Wicklow.
At the moment we are seeing people leaving the county for cheaper rent areas in Carlow and Wexford.
I am also concerned that Blessington is now the only large town in Wicklow not in a rent pressure zone.
A more radical and useful method of rent pressure zoning would have been to include the entire County of Wicklow and then remove areas that can prove that there is a stable rent market.
Rapidly increasing supply of homes both for affordable rent and purchase is the only answer to the housing crisis that affects so many Wicklow residents.”
