20% On Social Welfare Can Still Afford Rent, Warns Terrifying Study [UPDATED]

A TERRIFYING new study has sent shockwaves through communities with desirable postcodes, suggesting almost as many as 20% of people currently on social welfare could afford to live in their neighbourhoods.

“Jesus, that’s awful. And has the government said what they’re doing to combat this?” one Dublin local we spoke to asked, clearly very upset by the news.

While the government haven’t unveiled a concrete proposal for combating the ability of jobless layabouts living and breathing the same air as real people, they hope their general inaction on most things will stand them in good stead.

“Now, now, listen. We might not have an official policy on this yet, but you must keep faith in us, that it won’t get any better for that lot,” a government spokesperson confirmed.

The only silver lining from the study has revealed that 83% of people on state housing benefits will be completely priced out of finding anywhere to live.

However, the Simon Community, who carried out the study have been criticised for fear mongering and needlessly worrying the public.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to go around scaring people like that. My mother, God love her, is getting old and she owns three flats in Galway, that news nearly gave her a heart attack,” one Galway native shared with WWN.

It is not clear if the study took into account over 7,000 people currently homeless in Ireland.

UPDATE: Thankfully in the five years since this figure was first published it has fallen to just 10%.