Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed)

Dr. Conor O'Toole:

I agree with both of the previous contributors that the scale of this, in the medium term, will be in the thousands. It is a very welcome development to have this tenure in the Irish mix. There are two benefits to the pricing side. One is the initial level, but also over time, if the price change is lower than household income growth, then the affordability will improve over time. That is a critical aspect of this particular tenure that should be highlighted and leveraged.

Something we have not discussed today in too much detail is the impact of the pandemic. In one of the pieces of work that we did, we found that the types of sector in which middle-income renters often work are those that have been disproportionately affected by the labour market shock, whether it is hospitality, retail or similar areas. The income prospects for these households over the next period of time are very uncertain with the pandemic. Therefore, having a tenure like cost rental that is able to come on stream over time and provide these households with an affordable rent, where they may not be able to access a mortgage because of the employment uncertainty, is a very welcome aspect in the Irish market.

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