John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If members of the general public are listening to this debate, they could easily become confused. I was in my office listening to some Government Deputies talking about the need to build more houses. We are the ones saying more houses need to be built, so I think there is some confusion. It is easy to say we need to build more houses. The exact nature of the problem is that we are not building enough houses.

People sleeping rough is the most visible and extreme consequence of homelessness and homelessness is the most visible and extreme consequence of a dysfunctional housing system. The housing system today is an example of a perfect storm. These are not my words or a quote from the socialist parties, rather they are the words of Peter McVerry. We need to listen to what he is saying when he makes the point that there is a perfect storm.

There is an amalgamation of problems with private housing, private rental property and social housing. These three areas are all in crisis at the same time, although I do not believe this fact is being discussed. On private housing, for those starting out on the housing ladder who want to buy a private house, prices are moving out of reach of most young couples on moderate or middle wages, in particular as they need 10% of the cost of the house as first-time buyers or 20% if buying for a second time. That is what is facing thousands of young couples whose first option, if they had a choice, would be to buy their own private houses. That option is being taken away from many young people, perhaps for ever.

There is also a perfect storm within the private rental sector. Some 20% of households are now renting, which is a huge increase on the years preceding the crash. We all know that good quality houses are scarce throughout the country and that some 40,000 rented properties were taken out of the housing stock and put up for sale between 2011 and 2015. This has caused a problem because it means the first group of people I mentioned are unable to buy houses and it also took many people out of the rental market. A survey of landlords carried out by the Private Residential Tenancies Board last year indicated that one third of them intended to sell their property when they could afford to do so. There is no doubt that this trend will continue. Therefore, we are now back into the perfect storm for people who want to buy private houses and those who are renting.

I also wish to refer to the famous housing assistance payment, HAP. It has been acknowledged by Deputies on all sides that there are fundamental flaws in the HAP scheme which have left people who are urgently seeking housing in dire straits. I will give an example. As is the case with many other Deputies, my office has been inundated with calls. During the summer, I carried out a survey of 13 auctioneers in Waterford city and Tramore and found only one landlord willing to accept tenants who are paid through the council-administered HAP scheme. Very few applications secure housing through the scheme. The Government will tell us that people are taking up the scheme but those taking it up are predominantly transferring to HAP from the rent supplement programme. Why do landlords not want to take people on the HAP scheme? It is because the rent ceilings are too low. Hence, there is, again, a perfect storm in the rental market.

There are 100,000 to 130,000 people on housing waiting lists, although I believe the number is actually greater because there are individuals who are living with their parents and who, for example, say that, as a single person, there is no point in going on the housing list because they are not going to get a house for years. As a matter of fact, some of them consider themselves homeless. This is the problem with regard to the 100,000 to 130,000 people coming onto the list. As a result of that to which I refer, there is also a perfect storm in the area of social housing.

We really have to listen to what Peter McVerry is saying, namely, that a perfect storm has developed not only in the social housing market but also in private housing and rented accommodation. This is the difficulty we face. Nothing has really changed since the crash. The economic consequences we face today are that house prices are going up and that private rent is increasing faster than it was five or six years ago.

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