Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 January 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion

9:30 am

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We are very tight for time and this is a huge topic, so I will stick with one issue, that of affordable housing, which comes under pillar 3 and points 13 and 14 in particular. It is somewhat incredible that an affordable mortgage scheme operating in tandem with local authorities is not currently in existence. Earlier in the week, the Minister announced a scheme that local authorities will have to administer through their staff but which relates to private rather than public or publicly built housing. I wish to ask him about the latter because this is the first opportunity for members to so do.

People around the country were somewhat gobsmacked at the suggestion by the Taoiseach relating to how people might raise deposits to be able to participate in the scheme. I refer, for example, to someone putting together a deposit of €30,000 for a property in Dublin. He outlined four ways for people to do so: leave the country to work; ask the bank of mammy and daddy for a bailout; borrow the money, which I thought was illegal because one is not meant to borrow for a deposit but, rather, raise the deposit and then have a 90% loan; or stay at home for a few years and live with their parents. What is the Minister's view on those comments? All members know that the most recent census showed that up to half a million people under 30 were stuck at home with their parents because of the housing crisis. Parents are faced with the choice of packing off a child to Australia or keeping one in Ireland. It is incredible that the Government has prioritised a scheme for private housing, which is currently unaffordable. The Minister announced a scheme that forces people to participate in unaffordable private housing rather than an affordable mortgage scheme utilising public lands, for which many people have been waiting for a long time and which councils used to offer. What is the Minister's next plan?

I met the management of Fingal County Council to discuss the landbank north of Wellview in Damastown. I hope those officials have raised that matter with the Minister. For that scheme to work, a portion of it would be social housing but if the Minister wants the famous mix of tenure that is so often talked about, an affordable mortgage scheme must be introduced that would allow the council to get those houses built and let people buy them through an affordable mortgage. If that was done, rather than young or older people being forced to spend €320,000 on houses in Blanchardstown or elsewhere, they could buy them for €165,000 or €170,000, certainly less than €200,000, and make mortgage repayments of €600 to €700 per month. That is possible and a reality.

People have mentioned the Ó Cualann scheme, which is very welcome because it shows that if it can be done there, it can be done elsewhere. However, councils have landbanks. The Ó Cualann scheme is illustrative of what is possible but I would not choose that model because I think the council should hire a contractor. It is obvious that direct build is not currently an option because of understaffing but councils should hire a contractor and pay a set price to build houses rather than giving away land to a private developer. In the case of Ó Cualann, there is no particular profiteering by the developers but there are issues with provision and the scale thereof. When is the Government going to bring in such a scheme with local authorities or what is its plan in that regard? We need real affordable housing rather than subsidising people to go in search of unaffordable housing on the private market.

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