‘Housing time bomb will aid Sinn Féin rise’
Fears mount as home prices and materials soar
DEEP political unease is growing over rising house prices and soaring building material costs.
One minister told the Irish Mail on Sunday that a ‘time bomb’ is ticking over the chronic shortage of homes and lack of affordability, adding: ‘We are on the cusp of a Celtic Tiger-style bubble where real house-price inflation is on the way back.’
Concerns are mounting in the wake of an unconvincing response by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to the public furore over
‘We are on the cusp of a Celtic Tiger-style bubble’
housing affordability and ‘cuckoo’ investment funds bulk-buying new estates, pushing first-time buyers out of the market.
One Cabinet member told the MoS: ‘There is real fear that housing is the next water charges.’
Another minister said: ‘There won’t be riots in the street over the price of houses, but the concern is that… our vote will simply disappear and leave the field open to Sinn Féin.’
Mr O’Brien’s party colleague Junior Finance Minister Seán Fleming admitted the Government is increasingly concerned about inflation.
He said: ‘People are seeing house prices going up; they are seeing the cost of building materials up. Inflation is something we are watching very carefully.’
A Construction Industry Federation (CIF) survey on construction price inflation carried out in February – seen by the MoS – reveals ‘significant price increases and delivery delays related to multiple construction materials’.
More than 80% of companies surveyed are experiencing price increases with steel; 66% with timber; 59% with cement, and almost 50% with cladding. The hikes ranged between 10% and more than 20%.
One source said: ‘It’s a question of supply and demand. There was inflation when half of construction was closed. Now that it has reopened it is rocketing up.’
The CIF survey also reveals prices are being driven up by the long-feared ‘Brexit bite’.
One senior construction industry figure, said: ‘The lockdown masked the troubles that would inevitably come with Brexit. Well, they are here now.’
Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard said the cost of timber, steel and insulation has rocketed by up to 30% to 40% in the past six months.
He said: ‘All this is adding 30% to the price of a house – it will hit the market in six months and then we will see trouble.’
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen said: ‘This week’s action on housing was welcome, but the crisis has not been averted and sorted.
‘The resolution and efforts to resolve and assist housing towards some sort of equilibrium is far from easy. Fianna Fáil knew this when agreeing a Programme for Government, a position reinforced by it taking on the mantle and ministry of housing.’
‘Prices also affected by long-feared Brexit bite’