We need to face fact housing system is badly broken
EXCITING news. A new branch of government has been set up, the Department for Minimising Problems. There is no senior minister, because Leo Varadkar wants to champion it himself, but Damien English is junior minister with responsibility for Not Talking Us Down.
Mr English, or Big Brother English as he prefers to be known, is pushing through legislation making it illegal to say anything negative in public about Ireland. A sliding scale of fines is proposed, with the steepest penalty imposed on offenders whose disloyalty does international harm to the State’s reputation.
Any media outlet printing or broadcasting information injurious to Ireland’s good name will be deprived of its licence. “It’s time to get tough with people sitting on the sidelines, cribbing and moaning,” says Big Brother English, channelling a previous Taoiseach.
(Note: he consulted with the leadership before using that quote because it originated with a Taoiseach from the wrong party. However, it passed muster because the wrong party is now on the same side as the right party.)
Impressed with his minister’s grasp of style over substance, Bigger Brother Varadkar has circulated a directive to all ministers, banning use of the word ‘problem’ in relation to housing.
I understand a brief window of opportunity remains open before the new law is enacted, allowing us to discuss (shush, whisper it) housing shortages and homelessness. So, let’s seize the day.
Homelessness is not normal, nor should it be represented as normal, nor should anyone be criticised for flagging the extent of the problem. Green jerseys have no place in this discussion.
The housing shortage and homelessness are interlinked. Too many people are sleeping on sheets of cardboard wedged into a shop entrance. Too many families are trapped in hotel rooms instead of raising their children in homes. Too many people in employment are pushed into homelessness because they are unable to afford rent or access a mortgage.
The system is broken. Solutions are not delivering results fast enough – and with winter drawing in, the clock is ticking.
An accommodation crisis has developed because building stopped during the financial collapse and has been slow to reactivate. Scarcity has driven up rental prices, making it tougher for people on middle to low incomes to find a home.
I know of a man earning €50,000pa who recently spent several months sleeping on friends’ sofas because he couldn’t find anywhere affordable to rent. His case wouldn’t even show up in the figures because he isn’t sleeping rough or in his car, and hasn’t accessed emergency accommodation.
Once, factors such as alcohol and drug dependency contributed to homelessness, but the housing shortage is another propellant. It is misleading to claim all homeless people have behaviour, mental health or addiction issues. Eileen Gleeson, head of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, oversimplified the case by suggesting that, earlier in the week. But let’s also acknowledge that she is working hard, as are others, to address the problem.
The bottom line is that working people are now affected, as well as the vulnerable. For example, people on zero hours contracts routinely are refused a mortgage; if they can’t find somewhere to rent, either because there is nothing available or what’s on the market is too expensive, what then?
Some 55pc of after-tax income had to be used to pay rent for the first time in Dublin in the second quarter of this year, according to a Sherry Fitzgerald report. That’s punitive. Some 30pc of net income is regarded as a manageable ratio because it allows other bills to be met and modest savings made.
Clearly, it’s essential to build more accommodation, particularly social and affordable housing. At least with a social housing programme, the State has ownership of an asset.
Cranes on skylines must become a common sight again.
However, the Government prefers to incentivise private development. In Budget 2018, the Finance Minister’s headline housing initiative was the creation of Home Building Finance Ireland – a new agency backed by €750m. It advances money to developers who need to top up bank loans for projects. By comparison, just €75m was found for the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, which supports local authorities to deliver affordable housing.
ANYONE who has sat in a plane approaching or leaving Dublin will know there are land banks surrounding the city. But owners have been hoarding green sites, waiting for prices to rise.
Belatedly, a 3pc levy on vacant sites is to be introduced – delayed until next year, as though we have all the time in the world. Circumventing this tax shouldn’t prove troublesome because it does not apply where a site is in negative equity: developers can add more debt to a site to avoid the charge.
Elsewhere, there are vacant properties that could be pressed into service. Local authorities need to be proactive in identifying them. Rather than finger wag, Big Brother English could spend his time profitably by travelling from county council to county council, ensuring they reclaim boarded up houses and make full use of unoccupied space above shops and offices.
It is not reassuring to hear Bigger Brother Varadkar tell us Ireland has “one of the lowest levels of homelessness” by international levels. It’s our standards that matter, not others. Unprecedented numbers of our citizens are without a home – a far cry from the Republic of Opportunity promoted by Fine Gael. Latest figures show a record high of more than 8,300 people in emergency accommodation in September, including some 3,100 children.
Only the Government can change outcomes for both types of homelessness, ie rough sleepers and families in emergency accommodation. Initiatives to boost the housing supply will adjust private rents downwards, in a virtuous circle.
The purpose of being in Government is to devise policies that deliver results. Instead, ministers are bleating about how nobody understands the complexities of their brief or gives them credit for trying.
Perhaps they belong to a regime insistent that all of them are on message. If such is the case, here’s the message they ought to absorb and act upon: a roof over one’s head is not a luxury but a necessity.
Finally, there are unconfirmed stories that Big Brother English’s next project will be to address misconceptions in the area of health, particularly hospital waiting lists. Apparently, he maintains that nobody has to wait for an operation and reports to the contrary are unpatriotic. The usual fines and associated deterrents are expected to apply.
The purpose of being in Government is to devise policies that deliver results. Instead, ministers are bleating about how nobody understands the complexities of their brief