Dr. Robert Sweeney:

Under the cost rental model it is envisaged that the rent will essentially cover the costs of building and maintaining the property. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, has been advocating for a cost rental model for a number of years. In terms of roll-out, the local authority or approved housing body would build the house and the tenant would pay rent which is sufficient to cover the cost. In the case of approved housing bodies in particular, some would have to borrow to build the housing and the rent would have to be sufficient to cover that cost. To be honest, I have not done a huge amount of work on the cost rental model, but it seems a way to proceed going forward. The system we have now for social housing is very much oriented towards low-income households. I would like to see a situation where it is not just the poorest of the poor who can avail of public housing. A cost rental model would be a way of doing that. The rent paid would be based on a person's income.