It is a problem that seems to get worse and worse. Thanks to our chronic shortage of housing, desperate tenants are facing a choice between exploitative landlords offering poor quality homes, or homelessness.
Most of the measures introduced by successive governments to prod the housing market into action have produced disappointing results.
Is it time for greater State intervention in the housing market? We talk to two experts who believe the time has come for a major rethink.
Dr Michelle Norris is head of UCD’s School of Social Policy and chair of the Housing Finance Agency.
Dr Lorcan Sirr is lecturer in housing studies, urban economics and research methods in DIT’s School of Real Estate and Construction Economics, and a columnist with the Sunday Times.
