President Michael D Higgins has called Ireland’s housing crisis a “disaster”.
In a nutshell
Higgins was visiting the Tiglin facility at Jigginstown Manor today when he declared that the country’s housing problem could no longer be called a crisis. “It’s a disaster,” he said.
“I often ask myself, how republican is what we’ve created? And isn’t it sometimes very much closer to the poor law system than we thought we were departing from,” the president added, speaking of the difference between Ireland as a republican state versus when it was under British rule.
Tiglin, the charity Higgins was visiting, aims to help people overcome homelessness and addiction through rehabilitation programmes.
While the president was being hosted by the charity, he gave an impassioned speech on housing in Ireland.
Speaking frankly
Higgins said he has begun to speak “more frankly” about homelessness. “Because I think it’s our great, great failure.”
“It isn’t a crisis anymore, it’s a disaster”.
“We have to really think about meeting the basic needs of people in a republic,” the president added. He listed those basic requirements as food, water and shelter.
Building homes
The most important thing to do is build homes, Higgins said.
“Building homes is what is important, it is not to be a star performer, for the speculative sector internationally, or anything else.”
However, according to the consultancy firm EY, the government is set to miss its own housing targets for 2023 and 2024.
Housing completions for this year are expected to be surpassed, however (400 units ahead of target). EY predicts that in 2023, the government will fall 2,000 units short of its target and 1,450 units short in 2024.
There are a number of factors that impact the delivery of new homes. These include rising costs, delays in planning, land issues and competition from apartment building.
Apartments
According to the Central Statistics Office, just under 43,000 planning permissions were granted last year for new homes. 60 per cent of these were for apartments.
However, several studies have found that there is a lack of demand for apartments compared to the number that are being built. Apartments themselves are more popular in city centres but more are being built in suburbs - where there is less demand.
