The beginning of the housing crisis can be dated back over 30 years.
That’s according to Tramore-native, Rory Hearne, who's Assistant Professor of Social Policy at Maynooth University.
It comes as new figures from the National Oversight and Audit Commission show nearly 4,500 council houses around the country last year were vacant.
In Waterford, there were approximately 85 empty council homes as of the end of December last.
More than 3 per cent of social housing in Ireland remained empty last year while the number of people in emergency accommodation rose by nearly 10 per cent.
Rory says a change in social housing policy in the early nineties severely affected the number of future homes.
The Celtic Tiger Era began and he believes we got lost in the idea that housing was no longer a home, it was an investment asset.
The Tramore native says allowing investor funds to take over so much of the market was a mistake.
"The local authorities were essentially told by government, "stop building,"," he said.
Rory is the author of the book 'Gaffs: Why no one can buy a house, and what we can do about it.
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