Quick f ix won’t solve the housing crisis

ONLY the housing crisis rivals the state of the health service as the biggest challenge facing the Government.

It is, of course, a multi-faceted problem. Due to soaring rents, it is next to impossible for aspiring homebuyers to put aside enough money for a house deposit.

Even the lucky few who do manage to scrape together an adequate sum still have no guarantee of receiving mortgage approval. And even if they do get the nod, they are going into what is very much a vendors’ market.

But that is only part of it. Worst of all is the disturbing reality of young families being forced to live in guesthouses, hotels and other forms of temporary accommodation that are totally unsuitable for normal domestic life.

The solution to the various problems at the heart of the matter is simple, however. This newspaper has repeatedly highlighted the fact that we just need more homes to be built. According to new figures, local authorities have spent almost €1billion since 2011 on buying private homes to be turned into social housing. This deserves a broad welcome: anything that puts a roof over people’s heads is a good thing.

But official research indicates it would have been far cheaper to have new properties constructed instead. The existing policy is a sticking-plaster solution – and a costly one at that, especially given that the extra homes will have to be built at some point in the future anyway.

Questions need to be asked of council leaders right throughout the country. When they should be going for cost-effective remedies, they are opting for quick-fix answers. They need to be reminded exactly whose money it is that they are spending.