Marginalised groups such as the low-paid, the unemployed, and single-parent families with young children are finding it increasingly difficult to get suitable rented accommodation in Galway city, it has been claimed. With thousands of third-level students returning to the city, the Galway co-ordinator of Threshold, Ms Deirdre Murphy, said many people were being forced to accept sub-standard accommodation.
"In the case of the low-paid, the rents being sought are just too high, the unemployed are encountering difficulties in getting rent receipts, while many landlords simply don't want to know if there are young children in a family," said Ms Murphy.
She called for a number of measures to be taken to ease the "crisis" in the city, including more local authority housing, the broadening of the criteria for shared and affordable housing schemes and the proper enforcement of landlord registration.
