Sir, – Maeve Halpin (October 29th) links the number of Irish millionaires with unaffordable rents in Dublin, and ultimately with homelessness of working people. I have the greatest sympathy with anyone who falls into homelessness, but are landlords the source of all evil in this country? Perhaps Ms Halpin should try to buy a property in Dublin and then rent it at a rate that would allow her pay interest and capital on the related loan? What rent would she charge or indeed what could she afford to charge?
Ms Halpin has gone for the simplistic option of focusing on recent rental increases in the Dublin market. However, is she aware rents dropped massively a few years back and they are still below previous levels? Since then loan interest rates with our “pillar banks” have shot up, while international rates have dropped, and a property tax has been introduced. How about looking at all the social and affordable housing that was forgone by our city councils in preference for cash payments from developers? How clever was that?
Homelessness in Dublin is a big problem, but blaming landlords on the one hand and then all of us on the other hand (“we have failed in our collective civic responsibility to our fellow citizens”) is a bit too simplistic an analysis to solve anything. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham
Dublin 16.