Sir, – While we might agree with much of what Robin Mandal has to say (Letters, August 17th), we are concerned that readers might be led to believe that affordability is peripheral in relation to the housing crisis. It is, in fact, the central issue.
The polices that affect housing delivery have to have this at the core of their strategies. We all agree land is a scarce commodity and that acknowledgement has driven density minimum standards in many areas that mean apartments are the only way to meet those standards.
But apartments are not affordable in most areas.
It helps explain why so many sites that have planning permission remain undeveloped; the schemes aren’t viable and are getting less viable as inflation hits.
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In all the discussions about housing, we rarely hear what the “market” wants, the real market being our sons and daughters who need a place to live and raise their families. We tend to tell them what they want – apartments are good because they use land more efficiently and if its good enough for the Swiss and Japanese, you the “market” need to adapt too.
However, our experience is that people also want houses and houses have a much better chance of being affordable. We would like to see policies that start with what would be affordable (probably a mix of houses and walk-up duplexes as well as some apartments) and then see what is the site-density standard that would be needed to deliver these.
Working with local authorities, at the centre of affordable delivery, solutions are possible and are being realised but engagement with the community remains critical. We need to start listening. – Yours, etc,
JOE KENNEDY, FRIAI
HUGH BRENNAN,
Chief Executive,
Ó Cualann Cohousing
Alliance,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.