Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Despite the Taoiseach’s bluster this afternoon, the Minister has failed to deliver truly affordable homes. Either he is involved in a massive smokescreen of misinformation or is so completely out of touch that he genuinely believes he is delivering affordable housing for people who are so desperate that they will jump on any of his schemes, not to get on the property ladder but to own their own home and get out of their childhood bedrooms and out of the units at the back of the houses that we see all the time. It may surprise the Minister to know that it is both possible and necessary to deliver homes at prices that working people can actually afford. This means selling new homes to eligible purchasers at prices of less than €300,000.

Here is how we will do it under Sinn Féin’s affordable leasehold purchase scheme. The State will pay for all the land, site service and related costs, retain ownership of the land and, where necessary, make a further contribution so that development levies are waived to guarantee affordable prices. This massively reduces the cost to the homeowner. The purchaser buys the home at or near the full cost of construction, and through a legally binding covenant is given free indefinite use of the land which is transferable to subsequent generations and their families. The purchaser is free to sell the home to another eligible purchaser at a future affordable purchase price. This scheme will hugely reduce the initial purchase price of the home. Second, it ensures permanent affordability for subsequent buyers. The State money does not go to private developers because under this scheme, the aim, over time, is to create a market of privately-owned, privately-traded and permanently affordable homes. It is clear the Minister is determined to carry on with failing on every housing metric. Only a general election, a change of Government and a change of housing plan can deliver an ambitious affordable housing programme.

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