One day only the rich will be able to afford to buy a home

DAILY reports of escalating house prices and rents make for grim reading. If it continues like this only the rich will be able to afford to buy a house and the Government will be forced to spend more taxpayers’ money to subsidise people in the rental market.

The current crisis is tearing at the very fabric of Irish society, affecting the homeless, those on local authority housing lists, the increasing number who cannot afford to buy, those paying eyewatering rents and those who are forced to commute long distances as they cannot afford the prices in our major cities.

The recently reported profits made by institutional landlords is indicative of a moral and ethical deficit at the heart of this Government’s housing policy.

The economic effect will be a clamour for higher wage increases, resulting in a loss of competitiveness and an inability to attract foreign workers as they will not be able to afford to live here.

The quality of life of all affected by this crisis is hugely diminished and the Government’s response has been totally inadequate.

It is beyond belief that this Government has allowed the situation to descend into the present shambles.

It is also becoming increasingly annoying to hear the ministers responsible for housing repeating that Rebuilding Ireland is working: it clearly is not.

It is perfectly obvious the private housing market does not have the capacity or the will to provide adequate affordable housing and the Government will have to take on this task.

This Government could and should do a whole lot more to solve this crisis. It seems Fianna Fáil’s response is to give more taxbreaks to landlords. Will the electorate’s response be ‘a plague on both your houses’?

TONY WALSH, by email.