Government warned developers are exclusively catering for upper end of housing market

The Government is being warned that developers are only catering for the upper end of the housing market.

It comes as a new survey this week revealed first time buyers expect to take a minimum of six years to save up enough money for a deposit.

New central Bank rules dictate that a 20 per cent deposit is needed before a mortgage loan can be approved.

The Construction Industry Federation's Hubert Fitzpatrick says the only houses being built at the moment are beyond the means of most buyers: “If you’ve got a house priced in Dublin at €300,000, the deposit required there would be €38,000 and the annual income required would be nearly €75,000.

“Clearly that is unsustainable for many first time buyers.

“We have in excess of 20,000 developments in Dublin at the moment where the house prices are less than €300,000.”