Housing crisis has damaged too many families for too long
Opposition leader: We need the talent and skills of young people here
ON the watch of this Government, housing affordability has been torn to shreds. Far too many people who work hard, do all the right things, but still struggle to put an affordable, secure roof over their head. A report first published on the front page of the Irish Daily Mail this week reaffirmed that not only is the Government’s housing policy failing, it’s making the housing crisis even worse.
We have now reached a point where a couple needs to be earning a combined income of €127,000 a year to afford a new three-bed semi-detached house in Dublin.
These prices are off-the-wall, and are reflected throughout the state.
Home ownership has been pushed way beyond reach for ordinary workers, families, and young people.
This comes on the back of the latest report from the Residential Tenancies Board, which showed new rents up nearly 12% in the last year - the highest annual hike in rents since the RTB started their reports in 2007.
There was bad news too for renters in existing tenancies. Across the state, their rents increased by 5% and even higher in Dublin.
These runaway rent hikes hit hard-pressed renters in the pocket hard. They are paying a heavy price for this Government remaining in office. Across the state, you must find an extra €3,800 a year to pay for a new rent.
In Dublin, renters must find a whopping €4,700! This is big money.
These hikes mean that ripped-off renters find it increasingly difficult to get a mortgage deposit together.
They scrimp and save every spare euro, they make cutbacks and sacrifices, but the dream of home ownership is pushed further down the road.
No wonder nearly half of first-time buyers are now aged 35 or over.
Under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the journey to home ownership has become longer and harder.
Even when first-time buyers do reach the top of the mountain, they are left with higher debt and higher monthly repayments than ever before.
There is a lot of bluster and spin on housing coming from the Government right now. The fact of the matter is that they are recycling the very policies that created the housing mess in the first place. This can’t go on.
We need a massive ramping-up in the delivery of affordable homes to rent and buy.
Yet the Government continues to set affordable housing targets that are too low – targets they keep missing.
Renters need a real break and real help. Yet, the Government refuses to introduce an emergency three-year ban on rent hikes to give renters the space and breathing room they need.
Only this week, and not for the first time, Government TDs lined up to vote down this sensible proposal from Sinn Féin.
It begs the question, how high must rents go for the Government to intervene? They are happy to sit on their hands while renters take the blows.
As a result, a generation is denied the opportunity to build a good and prosperous life.
Many remain living at home with their parents well into their thirties, their lives and relationships put on hold.
Others take their chances renting where rip-off rents hamstring their ability to get ahead in life.
Many young people look to the airports and their chance of realising their potential in places like Perth, Boston, and Toronto.
This year, we will again see joyful scenes at the country’s airports.
Mammies and daddies will wrap their arms around their sons and daughters home for Christmas from the four corners of the world.
The sad scenes when they must make the return journey after holidays will not be broadcast.
Nor will the tearful Zoom Christmas calls made by those who couldn’t get back.
Every young person should have the chance to explore the world, but the truth is that too many feel forced onto the plane by a never-ending housing crisis. We need the talent, skills, and ideas of our young people here at home, helping to drive our economy, helping to build a better, fairer, and stronger Ireland.
This Government is incapable of changing direction. The housing crisis has gone on far too long.
The damage to families, communities and to our society is considerable. The damage done to the aspirations of a generation is very real.
With the right policies and with ambition from the Government, it is damage that can be reversed and repaired. This is why it needs to change like never before.
Journey to home ownership has become longer