Ending the Postcode Lottery: Wicklow to Introduce Fairer Rent Scheme

Today marks a long-overdue but very welcome step forward in creating a fairer housing system in Wicklow.

At the Wicklow County Council meeting, we received a presentation from Brian Wildes of the Bray Municipal District housing department outlining the proposed new differential rent scheme for the county. This will bring the Bray rent scheme in line with the rest of Wicklow—a change that’s been a long time coming.

Back in October 2004, I put forward a motion to the council highlighting this issue. At the time, Wicklow was the only county in Ireland where different rent assessment schemes were being applied depending on where you lived. The council acknowledged the problem then—one that had also been flagged by the local government auditor—and agreed it needed to be addressed.

I also raised another issue back then: the inclusion of payments like the Carer’s Allowance and the Domiciliary Care Allowance as part of income assessments for rent. These are supports intended to help people who are already carrying additional responsibilities, and it was unfair that they were being used to increase rent or disqualify people from social housing.

The new rent scheme not only merges the Bray and Wicklow models, but it goes even further than I had hoped. It will exclude the Carer’s Allowance, the Domiciliary Care Allowance, and child maintenance payments from income calculations. This is a huge and positive change.

These reforms will make a real difference to families and individuals who were previously excluded from social housing or charged higher rents due to technicalities—despite often living below the poverty line.

For people in Bray, this change will mean a direct reduction in their rents. More importantly, it brings a sense of equity and fairness back into the system. Everyone in Wicklow, no matter their postcode, will now be assessed under the same fair rules.