Archbishop of Dublin criticises landlords who ‘exploit the desperate’

Landlords who “exploit the desperate by packing them into disgraceful living conditions” and make them “pay dearly” for the privilege have been criticised by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.Speaking in Lourdes, France, on Friday, Dermot Farrell said the housing crisis, particularly in Dublin, had been “normalised to the point where we are no longer exercised about it”. He questioned whether “vested interests” were being sufficiently challenged in the face of the “gross denial” of people’s right to housing. In his homily at the grotto, which was attended by a group of Dublin pilgrims, the archbishop urged people to “break free of the paralysing grip of the status quo” and for the “comfortable” to reconsider their attitudes to property rights and values.READ MORE“Is it not extraordinary that almost a whole generation of young people have all but given up the hope of having a home of their own?” he said. “Living with parents long after the time when people would expect to live independently seems often to be the only alternative to emigration. And those who do find their own place often experience unrelenting financial pressure in paying their rent or mortgage.”Archbishop Farrell said hidden homelessness had become “ubiquitous”. “How visible are the young adults who live with relations, or the increasing numbers of families with children who rely on emergency accommodation?”[ Sharp rise in rents charged to new tenants as reforms took effect, RTB reportsOpens in new window ]He acknowledged there had been “substantial public funds invested” in alleviating the housing crisis and that increasing housing supply “cannot be achieved overnight”. However, he questioned whether the crisis was an overriding concern of society.“Do we see vested interests being challenged? Are established ways of doing things being set aside? Are property rights, and other rights, being reconsidered in the face of such gross denial of people’s basic right to housing?” he said. “And what about the exploitation of those who are vulnerable through their precarious housing situation? It is not a law of nature that requires landlords to extract the highest possible rent from their tenants.” The archbishop said it “is not a technical inevitability of housing management, that those who control property exploit the desperate by packing them into disgraceful living conditions, overcrowded, ignoring basic standards, and which have the renter pay dearly for this ‘privilege’.“If we cease to be shocked; if we dismiss our anger; if we continue to look the other way then this injustice and the suffering it causes will continue.”The finger of blame, he said, should be pointed “not only at the Government, not only at international investors, not only at planners or developers, it points also at ourselves”.He asked if those who own their own homes might “secretly be hoping” the crisis continues so property values remain high. “If we enjoy a pleasant environment with many amenities, does that increase our silent sympathy for those who submit planning objections?” he said. “When it comes to election time, do we support those we think will allocate resources that benefit us, rather than to those whose needs, including housing, are the most urgent?”