SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY Council has proposed a rental increase of 25% for tenants.

The council is proposing to increase rent base rates from 10% to 12.5% – a move Sinn Féin councillor William Carey said has left him “completely flabbergasted”.

There have been protests against rent increases for council tenants, with the most recent taking place outside Dublin’s City Hall on Monday, after Dublin City Council narrowly passed a vote in November which could see rents increase by up to 35%.

Speaking to The Journal, Carey said the matter is due to be raised at today’s Dublin City Council Strategic Policy Committee meeting.

“I wasn’t expecting this to come so quickly,” Carey said. “There’s no doubt it’s going to be an issue.”

Carey said that the increases are “going to make matters worse” for people already struggling with the high cost of living. 

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy raised the increases with the Tánaiste Simon Harris in the Dáil today.

“I’ve just gotten notice of what is going to be proposed for a massive increase in council rent in South Dublin County Council,” he said.

“It’s going to mean thousands of euros extra a year for many families at a time of a cost of living crisis, which people simply will not be able to be afford.”

“How are people meant to be able to afford massive increases in their rents at a time of a cost of living crisis?”

In response, Harris said “there is a need for fairness” when it comes to council rent.

“We provide a lot of social housing in this country. There is a need to make sure people are paying a fair rent as well. I think that’s an important part of the social contract,” he said.

“There’s many, many people looking for a home. There’s many people trying to buy a home. There’s many people in private rental accommodation.”

“There is a need for fairness, and if there are some rents that local authorities don’t believe meet that fairness test, well then there is a case to make sure they’re set at an appropriate rate.”

In November, 31 Dublin City councillors voted in favour and 30 voted against the change to rents in the annual budget meeting.

Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, People Before Profit and many independent candidates were against the increase, while the government parties, Green Party and Labour were among those in favour of it.

Some tenants could face a rent increase of up to 35% under the controversial increase, which is the first planned change to how tenants’ rent is calculated in 30 years.

The amount of additional rent people will be expected to pay will be calculated on the basis of their income, and what category they fall into (i.e. single parent households will have a different rate).

Council officials told local councillors there was a €55.6 million funding gap between the cost of running its social housing programme and the combined income from rents and government grants.

Council response

Speaking to The Journal, South Dublin County Council said: “The council’s 2026 Revenue Budget, adopted by elected members last November, recognised the need for additional income through an updated differential rent scheme to sustainably maintain and improve our social housing stock.”

“Proposed amendments to rents have been informed by a detailed review of tenant household incomes, local and national rents, and future housing maintenance requirements arising from ongoing social housing stock condition surveys.

“In particular, the recent Local Government Audit Service VFM Report on Local Authorities Differential Rent Schemes demonstrated that, despite our higher maintenance costs and increasing future requirements, rents charged by SDCC were generally lowest of all local authorities nationally across a range of different household sizes and incomes.

“Data from the LGAS report shows that during 2025 some households in South Dublin were being charged rents that were an average of 55% less than similar households in similar properties in other Dublin local authority areas which is clearly not sustainable or equitable.”

It said that local councillors have also highlighted some instances where “households with incomes in excess of social housing thresholds were paying a disproportionately higher percentage of their income on rent”.

It said the revised rent scheme, under which tenant household incomes will start being reassessed from 1 July 2026, “provides consistency across all households with updated rents of up to 12.5% of net household income, ensuring that rents correspond with tenants’ ability to pay”.

“Average rents under the new scheme are expected to be approximately €346 per month for households in social homes, an increase of 3.7%.”

It highlighted other measures in the scheme, including a maximum €40 weekly charge on income from subsidiary earners, removal of €3 fixed weekly additional charge, €10 weekly rent discount for persons aged 65+ with state pension income only and a weekly discount of €2 for each dependent child.

“Adjustments to the council’s rental income are essential to fund projected investment of over €49m for planned maintenance work in our current three-year capital programme.  This work will enhance living conditions and home energy efficiency for tenants while being sustainably funded from equitable and affordable rents.”