Record number of homes built but social housing low

A RECORD number of 76,954 houses were built in Ireland last year - up almost 12% on 2003, Housing Minister Noel Ahern confirmed yesterday.

But while Ireland’s housing output was one of the highest in Europe last year, almost the lowest number of social houses were built - just 7,000.

This prompted the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) Justice Commission to call on the Government yesterday to impose infrastructural levies on second-home owners to subsidise the cost of providing social housing for 50,000 householders on the waiting list.