The latest house price and rent increases show the urgent need for the Government to bring in an affordable housing scheme for first time buyers and to cap rents nationwide, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said today.
Deputy Murphy made her comments as two separate reports from the ESRI and daft.ie show that the cost of buying a home will rise by 20 per cent over the next three years and that rents have hit an all-time high.
Deputy Murphy said:
“Today’s figures show the huge affordability gap for people trying to buy or rent a home – and it is abundantly clear that the ongoing chronic lack of supply is at the root of the crises.
“It is now virtually impossible for a single income household to buy an average home anywhere in country, while prices in Dublin mean that for many people buying a home has become a pipe dream.
“Instead of pumping money into private market responses, the Government needs to take responsibility for a major public housing programme. It needs to fund and equip local government so that affordable homes can be delivered in a sustained and steady way and in appropriately mixed communities.”
In relation to today’s figures from daft.ie showing that rents have risen by 11 per cent over the past year, Deputy Murphy added:
“The soaring rents show how completely inadequate current rent certainty measure have proven to be. Rent caps don’t apply to the whole of the country and they apply too high a cap. We need to see rent caps tied to the general rate of inflation and applied across the country.”
ENDS
14 November 2017