Sir, – I refer to the Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien's take that "Housing policy must not be driven by ideology"(Opinion & Analysis, January 14th). The locked-out generation do not need him to speak for them.
A constant feature of Irish political discourse is this finger pointing at those generally on the left of the political spectrum as “having a problem of ideology”. We are supposed to believe that grown-up, sensible politicians exist in some sort of an ideological vacuum. Put simply, if we are all to leave ideology at the door then I invite this Government, which supports the ideology of the status quo, to make the first move. – Yours, etc,
GLENN FITZPATRICK,
Blessington,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Darragh O’Brien does not reassure anyone with his piece on how the housing crisis is being tackled. It is clear to those familiar with the issue that what we are seeing is a Government desperately trying to rescue a failed housing policy based on privatisation and outsourcing.
What we need is a focus on providing access to secure social housing with rent linked to income and local wage levels. When such supply is adequate to meet demand, the rest of the equation – the option of buying a home or private renting – will look after themselves. That is inevitable once the pressure is relieved.
The purpose of the Minister’s contribution becomes clear as a large part of the piece is used to defend his new “affordable housing” scheme which has already been criticised by officials as a scheme that will do nothing other than push up the cost of housing and increase profits for developers. This is the experience wherever such schemes are introduced.
In his efforts to deflect criticism, Mr O’Brien refers to a comparable English shared equity scheme which is claimed to “have increased overall supply by 14.5 per cent and inflation of just 1 per cent”. New analysis shows that the UK scheme is out of the reach of average earners in 96 per cent of England and shows that the scheme will “exacerbate the housing crisis” by cutting the amount of scarce, more affordable social housing. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, the UK housing and homelessness charity, warns that such schemes were “a comfort blanket only, providing nothing for the people at the sharp end of the national emergency our housing crisis has become”. She goes on to add this crucial observation: “For those earning above the average, or with a helpful inheritance –in other words, people already on the cusp of home ownership – this may get them over the line. There is nothing wrong with that, but it becomes a massive problem when it comes at the expense of social homes.”
What we desperately need is access for all to secure, affordable housing and not schemes that give a lucky few a discount to fulfil a “dream” to own what is still going to be an incredibly expensive house. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.