Co-leader of the Social Democrats Róisín Shortall TD called on the Minister for Housing to urgently introduce an affordable housing scheme. Speaking today in the Dáil, Deputy Shortall said: “Given the pricing trends we’ve seen reported this week, it’s clear the government needs to intervene now. Without urgent introduction of an affordable housing scheme home ownership will continue to be an impossibility for thousands of people.”
Deputy Shortall explained; “The latest REA house price index has the average 3 bed semi-detached house in Dublin City at €404,167. To afford this a first time buyer would need a deposit of €40,417 and an income of €103,929. So to afford the average house in Dublin you need three times the average wage. This is madness.”
“Late last week, the first entries on Dublin City Council’s Vacant Site Register were published. Of the 25 sites listed, 11 are state-controlled or owned by state-funded bodies. Many of these state owned sites should be used for the provision of badly needed affordable housing.”
Deputy Shortall concluded, “it is bizarre that the Minister seems to think the fact we haven’t quite reached bubble level house prices is consolation to people unable to afford a home. This is simply not good enough. We need action from Minister Coveney and we need it now”.