Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----given what we are being told, as Senator Higgins has outlined, by officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, by the ESRI, by the Central Bank and by a host of economists and given that we know from experience in London that it drives up prices, the shared equity scheme is in conflict with the objectives of an affordable housing Bill. It should not be in this Bill at all. I and Sinn Féin will support the Bill today but I clearly state Sinn Féin's absolute opposition to this shared equity scheme.

My support for cost rental and other measures in the Bill should not be seen as any kind of tacit support for this developer-led shared equity scheme. It will be open to first-time buyers and those who lost their property due to a relationship breakdown. They will eligible for a secondary loan from the new State agency, to cover up to 30% of the value of the home or a maximum of up to €100,000 on a property sold, for up to €400,000.

Borrowers will start to pay back the secondary loan after five years, at an interest rate of 1.5%. I already said this should never have been allowed into this Bill in the first place. We are warning that this provision will drive up house prices, which will result in more profits for developers. The origin of this proposal lies in two documents which were developed by Property Industry Ireland and Irish Institutional Property. These two groups are in favour of co-living and lobbied the Department not to introduce a ban on co-living.

The London School of Economics, referring to that upon which this scheme seems to be based, stated it has pushed up house prices in London by 6%. There are a serious of price caps for the scheme, such as €500,000 for a Dublin city apartment and €450,000 for a house in Dublin city. I should not have to come in here to say these prices are not affordable and this policy - I will say it one last time - has no place in an affordable housing Bill. It is not just Sinn Féin saying it will push up houses prices.

This is pro-developer, old-school Fianna Fáil policy at its very worst. Shared equity loans will not make homes more affordable.