Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister should have done an assessment of how this will affect home ownership. The reason I say that is that most apartments that are constructed - the Minister is putting in a preferential VAT rate for apartment construction - end up as rental accommodation only. Very few are available to buy and in the past 15 years, home ownership rates have collapsed, particularly among people under the age of 40. Many people would like to be able buy. They would like to be able to buy new apartments and they are often simply not available for sale. That is why having a measure like this and not tying it to affordability or home ownership will have an impact on home ownership. Largely, it is the rental-only sector that is being stimulated, which has expensive rents as well. That is not what most people want. They want the opportunity to buy, including to buy apartments. The Government could have brought forward measures to combine this with planning measures whereby, for example, 50% of new build apartments would have to be available for individuals and families to buy. It has not done that.

On the planning permissions for 98,000 apartments that have not been activated, where the private sector has been unable to build them over many years, where there is movement on that, it is usually when an approved housing body signs a forward purchase contract or buys the site or, significantly, when the Land Development Agency does that. For example, in my constituency, a very large site the private sector was unable to build on for 20 years was bought by the LDA and it is building affordable apartments that are now under construction. They are going up and families will be living in them soon. That is after 20 years of no movement and no viability in the private sector. However, a measure like this means the acquisition price for that land will be higher so when the LDA or an AHB goes to buy it, it will pay a higher price. That will be one of the costs of this measure.