Galway City Council has announced a proposed revision to its Differential Rent Scheme, set to take effect later this year. The revision, which will impact on the weekly rent charges of social housing tenancies across Galway City, is the first revision of the scheme for six years. Details of the proposed scheme were considered at the Social Development Strategic Policy Committee in City Hall this week.
Social housing tenants are charged rent based on household assessable income. The current Galway City Council Rent Scheme was introduced in 2019.
A recent audit by the Local Government Auditor recommended a review of the current scheme, aimed at simplifying the rent calculations, increasing income to support the City Council’s housing provision and maintenance functions, and reflecting the evolving economic landscape and increased demand for social housing.
Galway City Council has to generate the major share of its own income in order to deliver its services - housing is one of many such services. There are significant housing maintenance costs for Council houses and apartments. These costs have to be funded from Council Housing Rents. In recent years, the rents collected are not covering the costs of the housing maintenance services. This gap arises from two main issues:
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Firstly, there has not been a Rent Review and increase for Council tenants since 2019. A three-year rent increase was due in 2022 and did not take place for various reasons. Thus, six years later a rent increase is now long overdue.
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Secondly, the costs of construction materials for repairs has grown significantly and the income from rents based on the 2019 scheme is now outdated and insufficient.
Elizabeth Fanning, Director of Services, Social Development Directorate stated that, “The cost of making the repairs to current standards in order to re-let a social housing unit in Galway City has surged from €7,649 in 2019 to over €41,000 in 2024, including energy retrofitting. Maintenance costs per unit have more than doubled, rising from €917 to €1,875.” The Housing maintenance budget has increased from €4.4 million in 2019 to €13.4 million in 2025.
She added, “The additional income generated by a reassessment of all rent accounts will allow Galway City Council maintain a fair, efficient and financially sustainable housing system that meets the needs of current and future tenants.”
Last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin criticised local authorities for seeking handouts from Central Government to prepare Council housing properties for re-let.
In reviewing the Rent Scheme, it is recognised that there is a need to make some adjustments to allowances, which have overly complicated the rent calculation over the past six years. The revised rent scheme will remove the €5 deductions currently applied to weekly rent charges for dependent children, old age pensioners and those in receipt of disability allowance.
In drafting the new scheme, Galway City Council was cognisant of Government guidelines regarding affordability, which is 35% of net household income on direct housing costs. Galway City Council is very conscious of those experiencing social disadvantage and wishes to tailor the rent scheme to avoid any hardship. The scheme increases the rent charged from 17% of assessable income to 20% of assessable income, except in the case of those in receipt of old age pension. This per cent change represents a 3% increase in six years. The alternative to is that the housing services cannot be delivered to the required standard.
Commercial businesses in the city pay Commercial Rates to Galway City Council for the provision of services. These businesses have received a Commercial Rates increase in 2025 to begin to work towards meeting the costs of services. It is therefore fair that tenants should be required to pay their share for housing services through their rent, as it would be unfair for commercial businesses to be expected to subsidise housing repairs.
Other changes to the scheme include an amended definition for minimum rent, provision for additional charges in cases where refuse charges and/or property management fees are paid by the Council and the removal of a rent cap increase. The scheme includes a hardship clause and Galway City Council will consider accepting a reduced rent amount for a specified period in certain circumstances and with specific conditions.
The revised rent scheme is currently being drafted and tenants will be notified in September before any change is applied to their rent account.
Contact details will be provided with this notification in September for tenants who have queries. Once introduced, the change will initially be applied to new tenancies and households who undergo a reassessment of their rent account. It is envisaged that a programme of reassessments will be rolled out across all tenancies towards the end of 2025 and into 2026.