Sir, – Further to your report “Dublin requires 60,000 houses by 2021” (August 6th), I wonder does the Economic and Social Research Institute really mean space-wasting “houses”, or does it mean housing? There can be significant differences between what those two terms imply and it is unclear from the article whether the term “houses” comes from the ESRI report, or from a (mis)interpretation of it.
In my opinion the last thing Dublin and its environs need is 60,000 more “houses” in the vein of urban sprawl. What I hope the ERSI means is that Dublin and its environs need 60,000 residences and households by 2021, predominantly in the form of apartments and other high-density dwellings, in the spirit of well-planned continental European cities. – Yours, etc,
NIALL O’DONOGHUE
Lempäälä,
Pirkanmaa,
Finland
Sir – I read with dismay the proposal from the Society of Chartered Surveyors for the construction of “European-style” apartments for families. Those proposing the construction of such dwellings ignore the fact that Irish families (by and large) desire to live in houses. Properly planned towns and suburbs with medium-density developments of family houses and good services are what’s required to solve our housing crisis. This is not Tokyo or Singapore and cajoling families into high-rise hamster cages is not a solution. We’ve actually got plenty of space on this island. Perhaps it’s time to survey it properly? – Yours, etc,
PADDY JOYCE,
Barnageeragh Road,
Skerries ,
Co Dublin
Sir, – Once again Geoff Scargill weighs in on the housing debate with a tale of landlord’s woe. He bemoans a property tax which is in situ in every developed property market and cites such mundane expenses as “annual maintenance charges, management and running costs” as if they were the Government’s fault. Landlords’ difficulties arise from a low yield on their “investments”, from their having borrowed excessively and paid too much for their assets. Perhaps people who find themselves in such a situation should realise they are not the sophisticated investors they thought they were and that the policies of the democratically elected government are not to blame for their difficulties. Meanwhile, prudent families who sat out the madness are once again struggling to buy, while speculators, defended by the Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation and other media-savvy vested interests, retain assets which they are not paying for. Who will speak for those families? Yours, etc,
PAUL KEAN,
Conyngham Rd
Dublin 8