Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

agrees that the Government's Affordable Purchase Scheme is not working, while house prices continue to spiral out of control with a 10.1 per cent increase in the last 12 months according to the Central Statistics Office;

notes that: - no affordable purchase homes were delivered in 2020 or 2021; and

- only 323 affordable purchase homes were delivered in 2022, and just 499 in 2023, and 31 affordable purchase homes were delivered by Q1 2024; further notes that: - the full cost of a so-called affordable purchase home in Shanganagh Castle Estate ranges from €478,000 to €550,000;

- the full cost of a so-called affordable purchase home in Station Road, Lusk, ranges from €560,000 to €565,000; and

- the average full cost of a home under this scheme across the State is €365,000; regrets that: - until the buyer pays the full open market value, they do not legally own the home and the State equity can only be paid down by the buyer in €10,000 lump sums;

- where the State equity is not paid down, the full cost of the equity must be paid in full when the property is sold or by the children on inheritance;

- the legislation underpinning the scheme allows the local authority to demand repayment after 40 years, under what is termed "The Long Stop" provision in the Affordable Housing Act 2021;

- buyers in this scheme will spend 20 to 30 years working to pay down their own mortgages, and still owe the State up to 30 per cent of the future market value of the home; and

- the failure of Government to deliver a significant supply of genuinely affordable homes is contributing to house price inflation; and resolves that: - at least 25,000 affordable purchase homes, delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies, must be delivered over the next five years;

- these homes should be delivered at purchase prices from €250,000, with no hidden equity charges or penalties for children on inheritance;

- this can be achieved by the State covering the cost of the land, site servicing, utility connections and waiving development levies, which would allow the home being sold at or near the cost of construction;

- under this model, the buyer legally owns the home, has complete control over the property and can pass the home to their children and grandchildren;

- as the State retains ownership of the land, any future sale of the property must be to a future affordable purchaser;

- mortgage finance will be obtained by purchasers from mainstream banks and local authority home loans; and

- Sinn Féin's alternative housing plan "A Home Of Your Own" will put home ownership back into reach of working people, by delivering a growing stock of privately owned, privately traded and permanently affordable homes.

I am sharing time with colleagues.

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