It’s a quango to help ‘rich developers get richer’

GROUPS helping the homeless and opposition parties have expressed concern about the Government’s latest housing plans.

Solidarity TD Mick Barry described the new agency as ‘a quango to organise the privatisation of State land to enrich developers’.

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the proposed Land Development Agency ‘will hamper the delivery of public housing to meet social and affordable housing need’ and ‘it appears the Government has got the design of the new agency badly wrong’.

He said: ‘The idea of a strategic land management agency is a good one’ but added: ‘This model sees public land being sold to private developers and between 50% and 70% of the houses delivered on the site then sold at market prices.’

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath was more muted. He said a significant source of funding has been ignored.

‘It is estimated that credit unions collectively have around €8.5billion held in investments and the return on these investments is not substantial. Time and time again the credit union movement has come forward with proposals to invest a portion of that money in a social and affordable housing model,’ he added. The Simon Community expressed concern that only 40% will be realised from the disposal of public lands.

It said this meant that 60% of public land used could go towards private housing.