The Government hopes its latest initiative to alleviate the housing crisis, could free up as many as 28,000.
It involves extending the rent-a-room scheme to council tenants.
The rent-a-room scheme was first introduced in the mid 2000’s, and sees homeowners allowed to earn up to €14,000 a year, tax free, for renting out a spare bedroom to private tenants.
Up to now those living in council housing were not allowed to participate in the scheme.
However with the continued shortage of private rental accommodation, that now looks set to change.
Local councils currently own around 140,000 housing units across the country, up to 28,000 of which are ‘under occupied’ in many cases by older people living alone.
According to the Irish Independent Cabinet has agreed to extend the rent-a-room scheme to council tenants,
The paper reports that Government is hoping it could provide accommodation for between 14,000 and 28,000 people, from existing housing stock.
