New plan to tackle crisis in housing
◼Extra help for first-time buyers ◼More social housing planned
THE Government is to double the number of social and affordable homes in new developments and make it easier for first-time buyers to secure state-backed loans to get on the property ladder.
In his first interview since he was appointed housing minister last week, Darragh O’Brien said the number of social and affordable homes would be increased from 10pc to 20pc, and also that the salary cap threshold would be increased to allow more first-time buyers secure government-backed loans.
The new affordable home purchase scheme, to be launched in September, will allow households buy a home at a price that is initially lower than the market value of the property.
It is a national scheme that sees affordable homes built on public land in co-operation with local authorities. The scheme is aimed at households who would be able to repay a mortgage but are finding it difficult to buy a home.
In a Sunday Independent interview, the Fianna Fail housing minister pledged to increase the salary caps of €50,000 for a single person and €75,000 for couples in a move that should allow thousands more people to step on to the property ladder.
Mr O’Brien said the new affordable homes scheme would be available to first-time buyers with incomes in excess of the caps currently in place.
“The current salary caps, €50,000 for an individual and €75,000 for a new couple, are too low,” he said.
“The new criteria will be based on net take-home pay rather than gross income.” He added that “different affordability levels will be available for different parts of the country”.
The minister also revealed plans to increase the amount of affordable homes in private developments.
At present, private developers must include 10pc social housing in private schemes, under a provision known as ‘part V’.
But the new minister said he is drafting legislation to bring before Cabinet to increase this to 20pc to include affordable homes. “In new estates, 10pc of housing goes towards social housing,” he said. “I would like to see that increased by another 10pc ... so the affordable purchase scheme will be available in private housing estates to help speed up delivery.”
Mr O’Brien also promised “a new deal for renters” which would include “leases of indefinite duration”. He also plans a new housing task force comprising “five key people, all major stake holders in the industry”.
Reacting to Mr O’Brien’s plans, Sinn Fein’s spokesperson on housing, Eoin O Broin, said: “Sinn Fein actually had a piece of legislation passed last year to increase it to 25pc, we had that with Fianna Fail support, and they indicated at that stage that they would prefer it at 20pc. So we have no opposition to increasing the part V. But that, in and of itself, isn’t going to deliver the volume of affordable homes that are desperately needed.”
DARRAGH O’Brien is tickled by the idea that he isn’t the first of his family to make his mark on Dublin’s historic Custom House. Almost 100 years ago, his grand-uncle was part of an IRA raiding party who set it ablaze and destroyed historic records and documents going back to the time of King Henry VIII. But enough about the war.
Last week he began the job of reimagining Ireland’s housing policy, undermined by years of poor planning, lack of vision, red tape and under-funding. For the new Government’s reputation, much will depends on how he performs in a role that has defeated more than one of his predecessors.
A self-professed “workingclass boy”, he is a world away from his predecessor. His parents were raised in council houses in Crumlin and Drimnagh, built in the golden age of social housing, to which he now wants the country to return.
The new minister for housing, local government and heritage lives in Malahide, and prickles when I call it “Haughey’s domain”. Still, he credits the former Fianna Fail leader with getting “stuff done”. For all Haughey’s flaws, he says, “his record on delivery, people still talk about — the bus pass, the IFSC, Temple Bar are some of his enduring legacies.”
As a child, his love of politics was nurtured by his Republican grandfather Robert (the last of the fourth battalion Dublin brigade of old IRA) and a sense of social justice by his father, who would take him each Wednesday after school into the Ballymun towers to deliver food, washing machines and furniture (the new minister still volunteers in addiction services).
“I’m not giving it the ‘beal bocht’ here but there was no bank of mum and dad. I did my Leaving Cert at 16 or 17, then went straight to work.”
He didn’t attend thirdlevel: “To be bluntly honest, I got into college but I couldn’t have made it work and afford it and we were just above the grant threshold.”
He quickly rose through the ranks of an insurance firm, working on corporate pensions, before deciding on a career in politics.
His experience of home ownership mirror those of many who got on the ladder in the latter years of the Celtic Tiger. He bought in 2006, at the tail end of the boom, while making waves as a new face in Fianna Fail.
He was elected to the Dail for the first time in June 2007 and “everything was going great”. He packed in his job in insurance and was engaged to Susan, now his wife. The couple have a daughter.
After spending €580,000 on a three-bed in Malahide, they were two days into their honeymoon when “my phone started hopping. .. Bertie had resigned”.
O’Brien says he suffered professionally, personally and financially from the fall-out of the crash, including being abused on public transport.
“I remember having to change how I got to work. I had to stop getting the train for a while. I don’t blame people. People were hurting.”
He returned for a general election in 2011 to see Fianna Fail decimated. He describes it as “like waiting for a tooth to be pulled”, but adds:
“Rightly we took it and it was deserved.” Looking back, he says, “it was the best learning experience I ever had. I didn’t shirk from it and I didn’t run away.” As for his home, he felt the same pain experienced by many. He quips: “As I say to Susan, you better like it because we’re never leaving.” Then he turns serious: “But I genuinely understand. I know what negative equity is like.”
Little wonder then that he baulks when asked if he will put pressure on the Central Bank to relax mortgage lending rules, calling the idea “reckless”.
“I don’t want people chasing a higher mortgage to buy a more expensive house.”
Over and over, he repeats the mantra: “We have to get affordability into the system.” He has outlined his plans in the programme for government. The big-ticket item is over 50,000 additional social homes within the next five years, which he says will start from €150,000.
He won’t be pushed on how many units will be built each year, pointing out he has only been in the job for five days and is keen to do the groundwork before making a firm commitment.
But he will give his thoughts on some recent talking points. On co-living, he says the concept “drove people nuts”, and adds: “I don’t think they will be [built].”
Turning to whether people on social housing lists should have a right to turn down a free home three times if they deem it unsuitable, he says “there can be good reasons such as family support” but adds that this will come under review. He is hoping to introduce “indefinite leases” in the public and — intriguingly — the private sector. He says he’ll expand on the details in due course.
Meanwhile, he will launch a housing task force and chair it every Monday morning. It will consist of five “major stakeholders in the industry” who will be “an eclectic mix”.
A separate homeless task force will also be set up, again with weekly meetings. As for social and affordable homes, his key scheme will launch in September, with much higher salary caps (up from the €50k for a single person and €75k for a couple). He says the Government will look at well-known sites in the city, including the bus garage in Donnybrook, properties owned by Irish Rail and sites along Dublin Port, with a view to building on them.
Meanwhile, with 10pc of new estates earmarked
for social housing, he says: “I would like to see that increased to another 10pc for affordable purchase scheme.”
As for taller buildings in the centre of Dublin, he says “it seems insane to me when I look out at the north and south quays, that we have capped our ambition to 22 or 24 storeys. It is something that I will be looking at because [Dublin is low-rise] when you compare it to any major European city … I don’t want it near our Georgian core but where appropriate in the docklands.” All of which may be good news for Johnny Ronan and others, if demand still exists for high-rise offices post-Covid. He adds that the planning system “needs to be modernised” and he aims to get local authorities building.
“Regulation is good where it helps, ensures safety and quality, but where we don’t need red tape, we need to start cutting through it.”
“Officials need to be guided
by government policy and [where they’re] not, they need to adhere to it,” he says. “That is something I will be making clear to chief executives all around the country.”
He has scant sympathy for colleagues snubbed for ministerial positions: “The public aren’t interested whether I or anyone else is upset. They want us to do the job. So I think we need to get over ourselves a little bit and just get on with it.”
He has had his critics already. Before he’d even had the seal from the President, Sinn Fein’s Eoin O Broin was on the offensive.
“I find that very interesting. I want the country to succeed. And if Eoin was in this room [as minister] I would want him to succeed. But that isn’t reciprocated. So I’m not going to focus on that — I’m focused on what’s good for the people. And I’m ready to take on whatever the job throws at me.”
‘I genuinely understand. I know what negative equity is like’