Our housing ‘crisis’ is now an emergency

THERE are consequences to making choices and there are consequences from avoiding them; many of the problems confronting us today are the result of avoidance.

A reluctance or a refusal to confront the obstacles in the path of construction has created an unprecedented rent and housing crisis. Today, we report on how students who have fulfilled their part of the bargain by getting the requisite number of points to attend their preferred third-level courses are unable to accept them because of the prohibitive cost of rent. Dublin, Cork and Galway are worst hit. One of the main drivers of foreign direct investment here has been the quality of our education, and a skilled and educated workforce.

That edge must be sharper now than ever before given the onset of Brexit.

A report on funding for higher education highlighted these problems before, yet its solutions were politically unpalatable. The introduction of some form of student loan system will have to be countenanced at some point.

But the immediate problem is a scarcity of accommodation. Dublin rents are roaring ahead and are now 18pc higher than at the peak seen in 2008.

So-called “affordable housing” in one suburb of south Dublin is expected to come to the market at €500,000.

There has been much talk about shovel-ready sites, long-term planning and blue-prints, but we await action.

We used to have a housing crisis – a time when our politicians had the luxury of writing up reports and ordering new committees to “look into them”.

We now have a full-scale housing emergency and direct intervention is vital.