Just get building!

OF the various initiatives put in place to address the housing crisis, not one has delivered the sort of results needed.

A new Daft.ie report puts the situation in sharp focus. According to the research, rents rose 10.4% nationwide last year. The increase was 10.9% in Dublin, where the average tenant is now paying over €1,800 a month to keep a roof over their head.

This newspaper has consistently pointed out that the obvious solution to the problem is to build more houses and apartments. It is the only logical way of making rents more affordable and giving aspiring home-buyers a better opportunity to get onto the property ladder.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe previously claimed the number of new properties completed last year was 17,000, but it later emerged the real total was likely to be well under 10,000. Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy subsequently admitted he didn’t know the true figure. Either way, not enough is being done.

At least one study has indicated a minimum of 35,000 homes – and maybe as many as 50,000 – need to be constructed each year until 2021. This may prove challenging, but the onus is on our political leaders to make sure it is a challenge that is met and delivered upon.