Policy on social housing risks creating the slums of the future if the growing problem of substandard accommodation is not urgently addressed, the housing charity Threshold has warned.
In its annual report, published today, the charity says there was a more than 33 per cent increase last year in requests for help from people living in accommodation falling far below the most basic standards.
Threshold saw a 20 per cent increase in people needing its help last year, while the numbers living in accommodation that did not meet minimum statutory standards increased by 36 per cent, from 284 in 2003 to 386 last year.
More people are living with no hot running water, mould on walls and ceilings, dampness, vermin and other pests, windowless rooms and leaking ceilings.
Staff also saw a 41 per cent increase in the number of people who had been illegally evicted and a 44 per cent increase in the number who had been refused the return of their deposits.
The chairwoman of the charity, Aideen Hayden, writing in the report, says Threshold continues to have "grave concerns over the standard of housing available to those on low incomes and to those on rent supplement".
"In 2004 alone 7,232 dwellings were inspected by local authorities and 2,106 of them, almost 30 per cent, were found to be below minimum standards."
She points out that inspections are only carried out by local authorities when a tenant makes a complaint. Given that tenants - particularly those on rent supplement - are often reluctant to complain for fear of losing their accommodation, many hundreds are putting up with slum-like accommodation in silence, she noted.
While the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Act last year did much to improve tenants' rights, the issue of the quality of accommodation in the private rented sector, particularly at the lower end, must be tackled, says the report.
This would require enforcement of minimum standards and an increase in the rent supplement.
Rent supplement tenants account for 40 per cent, or 28,000 households, of the private rented sector.
A Threshold report last month found the supplement cap was so low that anyone on the payment was "excluded from over two-thirds of the rental market, either because prices are too high or landlords won't accept people on rent supplement".
The upper limit a single person can receive on rent supplement is €120 a week or about €480 a month. It means anyone on the supplement is forced into the lowest end of the market.
Ms Hayden also criticises planners for failing to take account of the needs of families when approving apartment plans.
"Too few apartments are designed with the needs of children in mind." There was a lack of amenities in most, she said.
"If we do not address this issue as a matter of urgency," writes Ms Hayden, "we face the prospect of the 'slummification' of our inner cities."
