House prices used to track incomes. A ratio of three to one used to be the rule of thumb. The Central Bank’s lending rules still reflect that, but somewhere along the way this relationship fractured and house prices became a gross multiple of income.
The lack of affordability in the purchase market has swollen demand on the rental side. Rental pressures are also a function of the second core issue: supply. And this is where the State itself is implicated. However, since the 1990s successive Irish governments have effectively stopped building social housing, at least to the same extent, and switched to subsidising rents instead: a short-term budgetary saving but a very disruptive policy long term.
The commission collates net additions to social stock across the State’s 31 city and county councils, which includes new builds, new and second-hand acquisitions, voids coming back into stock and Part V units acquired from developers. They also allow for outflows from the sale of units to tenants and demolitions.
Excess Government intervention is the problem.
Not merely unabated. Encouraged. This and previous govts wanted and want housing to be expensive.
IrishTimes It’s the same in every city in the western world. London has an average rental of £2300 per month Amsterdam has the highest in EUROPE
'The lack of affordability in the purchase market has swollen demand on the rental side'. This is a big, unevidenced claim, especially given no mention of any other possible driver of spiralling rents (eg huge spike in employment, structural changes in household size etc).
IrishTimes Now is the time to incorporate green technology into new builds as standard. Yes, solar panels, insulation, triple glazing, EV charging sockets etc will add to the cost but will be much cheaper than retro fitting. No planning application should be passed without these items.
IrishTimes Correction when the civil war was going on in ireland social housing was being built in dublin and elsewhere
The issues do not merely continue unabated. They continue to exist because govt lets them exist. Because the govt wants housing to become and to stay expensive. As all Irish govts have for 25+ years
IrishTimes Any news?
IrishTimes the answer is simple stop importing the world.