Fifty per cent of households in Cork city dependent on rent supplement are forced to live in accommodation that does not meet basic standards, according to a report to be published today.
The report, Seeking a Home on Rent Supplement, says people are being forced to accept accommodation which sometimes has leaking roofs, windowless rooms and no access to hot and cold running water.
The survey, from the housing charity Threshold, is based on interviews with 70 households on rent supplement in the city last year. It finds the supplement cap is so low that anyone on the payment is "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 €115 a week or about €460 a month. This is to increase to €120 a week from next month.
The rent supplement scheme is operated by the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department of Social Affairs. The amount to which an individual is entitled depends on their circumstances, but is calculated so as to leave them with a disposable income equal to €13 less than their welfare entitlement.
Fifty per cent of those surveyed in Cork city were in accommodation which did not meet minimum statutory standards.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) had mould growing on their walls and ceilings, while 21 per cent had problems with moisture getting through the walls.
Other people had difficulties with windows not closing properly (17 per cent), having no access to a sink with hot and cold water (11 per cent), windowless rooms (7 per cent), leaking roofs (7 per cent) and no secure handrail (3 per cent). Twelve per cent had problems with rats and other pests.
The survey also found many had to rely on expensive methods of heating. Some 27 per cent relied on plug-in electric heaters.
More than a fifth (21 per cent) were forced to make top-up payments on their supplement to meet their rent "so they were left with less than the minimum welfare payment to live on", says the report.
Threshold chairwoman Aideen Hayden said the finding that a "significant number of people" were forced to pay top-ups from their own scarce resources for housing meant "they often have to do without basic essentials in order to ensure the payments are made".
She called for a review of the cap on rent supplement "to ensure people are not forced into abject poverty to secure a home".
Margaret O'Neill, co-ordinator of Threshold's southern regional advice centre, said property owners whose properties failed to meet basic standards should be "named and shamed" by Cork City Council. "By doing this, the council will be protecting the most vulnerable people in our city from rogue landlords."
An estimated 40 per cent of people living in private rented accommodation throughout the State are dependent on the rent supplement scheme.
The scheme is "an expanding source of accommodation for people", the report adds.
