Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Looking at the amendment, it is good to see references to owner-occupiers, as long as that is additional to social housing. The Minister has been clear that this is an addition to Part V. I, of course, reserve the right to amend this new amended section on Report Stage but it is positive to be referencing owner-occupiers. There is a question of carrot or stick involved here. I understand that the intention is that there might be supportive provisions to follow, although they are not here. That means not only that there would be a supply of housing that we hope owner-occupiers will take, but that the planning permission provisions and planning permissions may specify the numbers of houses reserved for owner-occupiers. It will be important to see how that intersects with the build-to-rent problem at the moment because there is an abundance of large block built-to-rent apartments, which has an effect on the ability of communities to form. Not everyone needs to be an owner-occupier. People with long-term secure rent can, of course, also be crucial parts of communities, but people must have some security of tenure and there must be a diversity of ownership and engagement to ensure people can build a life in an area or within a development.

I note that this must be a challenge to build-to-rent; it cannot be parallel to it. I also note the question of the balancing of carrots and sticks. As well as measures to encourage owner-occupiers, we also need to look to further measures to constrain their competition, which is large-scale speculative investors. We cannot encourage both in the same way. We need to make our priorities clear. I thank the Minister for bringing forward amendments in that regard.