Negative equity couples adopting baby ban

Couples trapped in cramped homes are adopting a baby ban as they fight to trade up against rising prices and a shortage of houses in many parts of the country.

Prices for three-bed semi-detached houses, the most popular family home, are rising quickly in many counties with increases of up to 7.5% recorded in the last three months alone.

According to an Aviva Home Insurance survey, many couples are putting off having another child because they don’t have the space to expand their family.

Almost a third (29%) of families who have outgrown their home said they were delaying having more children and 22% were constantly worried they would never be able to trade up.

Price rises for three-bed semis are outpacing the general increase in residential property prices. Separate figures published today by myhome.ie show asking prices rose by 1.4% nationally in the last three months and by 3% in Dublin.

The myhome.ie report shows the median price for a three-bed semi-detached home rose by 7.5% in Galway in the past three months, by 7.2% in Carlow and by 4.2% on average in the 11 counties that saw an increase.

It’s very much a divided picture across the country, however, as Waterford, Tipperary, Donegal and Laois, saw no change and the other 11 counties saw prices fall by 6.3% on average but by as much as 26.1% in Cavan.

Just 16% of those who told the Aviva survey their home was too small said they could afford to buy a bigger place. They said being cramped caused a range of problems with 73% fed up with clutter and untidiness, 53% unable to work or study because of the noise, 63% lacking space for visitors, and 33% saying it caused family bickering and elevated stress levels.

And there is little respite in sight. Says Aviva: “In the absence of an increase in housing supply in locations where there is market demand, the ESRI is forecasting that house prices will continue to rise over the next three years.

“This suggests that the position of many of those trapped in constrained living spaces is unlikely to improve in the short term.”