Sir, – Building more houses to solve the housing problem is not the solution. However, building more houses where people want to live is the solution. When the private housing market is dysfunctional it pushes people back into part of the housing market they should not be in. When home ownership is unaffordable and when rents are too high, people get pushed into social housing. This displaces those who should have access to social housing and are consequently pushed back onto emergency accommodation. Homes become more affordable if more houses are built where people want to live. Part of the solution is liberalising the planning restrictions.
In this regard the decision recently by the Planning Appeals Board to turn down the proposed Tara Street tower (a modest high-rise building) is mystifying. Assuming the application met all best international design criteria, this decision makes no economic sense. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS POWER,
School of Built Environment,
Dublin Institute
of Technology, Dublin 1.