Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

A developer was told by Deloitte last year that an apartment project in Cork city would only be viable, or, in other words, profitable, if rents of €2,800 per month were charged for two-bedroom apartments. Perhaps the most famous apartment project in Cork, the Elysium, was left half-empty due to extortionate rents. Why does the Government persist with promoting this build-to-rent strategic housing development housing model? This matter has come up in a number of contributions and it can currently seen with the planning application for 191 apartments at Hewitt's Mill in Blackpool in Cork city. Does the Taoiseach accept that for-profit apartment development is not what we need in Cork or elsewhere, that these build-to-rent developments are driving up the average price of rent, and that the focus instead needs to be on the provision of social and affordable housing and apartments?

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