Govt. must address rent debt and mortgage arrears due to Covid-19

The Labour Party is calling on the government to outline clearly the action it will take to address housing related debt that will have built up due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

It comes as the Labour Party tables a motion for debate in the Dáil on Wednesday calling for a State scheme to address rent-related debt, and for the banks to stop charging penalties and surcharges on mortgage arrears built up during the pandemic.

Local representative Ciarán Ahern said:

“High rents and insecure tenures remain huge issues in Dublin South West. Now, bcause of Covid-19 too many people have been unable to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments through no fault of their own. These rent debts and mortgage arrears are a burden on so many families.

“In the Dáil on Wednesday the Labour Party is calling on the government to act to protect people and bring in a scheme to reduce rent related debt, so that they can’t be evicted; and to stop the banks charging people for arrears that were not their fault. It’s time the new government took action on this before it is too late.

“Through no fault of their own, thousands of people lost their incomes, and this has impacted their ability to keep up with their housing payments.

“I am deeply concerned at the long-term impact of this, when the accumulated debt will crystallise for many households when the economy fully reopens.

“We can’t have a situation where families are hit with eviction notices from landlords, and penalties from banks. We want to see the current moratorium on rent increases and evictions extended until there is a sufficient supply of new housing, and there must be a specific protection in law to protect people threatened with eviction due to arrears built up during the pandemic.

“There has been a fall in the level of homelessness in recent months due to the emergency moratorium on evictions, and the new Government must learn lessons from this. For years we called for the law on evictions to be changed as it is the leading cause of homelessness.

“There is a new Minister and we must now see new thinking on the housing crisis.”