Vivienne Clarke
Government measures in the Housing Bill are “only the start” and there will be a “real step up” in the purchase of land and the building of homes by the State, Minister for Transport and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said.
Mr Ryan told Newstalk Breakfast that his party wanted a radical increase in the range of housing available for people and for young people to be able to purchase their own homes.
The measures included in the Housing Bill were aimed at protecting individual families looking to buy their own homes, he said.
The approach to the issue was the same as with Covid-19 – a “whole of Government” approach with every department playing their part. Mr Ryan said he wanted to see an acceleration of schemes such as affordable purchase and rent.
Mr Ryan also said that he wanted to see apartment living included as part of the measures. Apartment living needed to be regarded as a decision for life, not just an option for the rental sector, he said. “We can’t just give up apartments to the rental sector. We need balanced regional development.”
When asked about the Green Party’s record of blocking large developments, Mr Ryan said the party was pro-development, though with an emphasis on quality not quantity. Housing without services would not be acceptable, he said, noting the party's “proud record in that regard.”
The Green Party approach was of getting the planning right, “it’s not just a numbers game. It’s about getting good quality housing. That is key.”
Stamp duty hike
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has defended the decision to exempt apartments from plans to introduce stamp duty charge of ten per cent on the purchase of ten or more houses.
Mr Donohoe told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the reason the measure was a house-focused was because he was “genuinely convinced” that if apartments were brought into the scheme, fewer apartments would be built.
“The first step in allowing rent to become more affordable in the future, and allow for more apartments for people who want to live in them, is for the apartments to be actually built.”
Mr O’Donohoe said the measure would be kept under review to ensure it would deliver the desired objectives or the building of more houses and apartments
There was “a really profound problem” because currently there were not enough properties to rent, he said.
Sinn Féin response
Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that the Government proposal of an increase in stamp duty to ten per cent was not sufficient and would not deter investment funds.
The proposed measures by the Government were not sufficient and instead had “set out a green light to investment funds” to say it was open season for the majority of houses in Dublin city, he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
The proposed hike in stamp duty would not have the desired effect of deterring investment funds, he said. He recommended that is set at 17 per cent at least, while the profits of the funds should also have been tackled.
The Government was giving the pretence that it was acting on the problem, he said. “Paschal Donohoe, his Government, doesn't want to go here. It is only because of public pressure that they now have to give a semblance that they are doing something.”
Capital investment needed to be doubled in order to build 20,000 homes over the next five years, he added.
Mr Doherty warned that there were thousands of houses not yet built (for which planning permission had been granted), that could still be “snapped up” by the investment funds.
