Minister defends housing plan as surveyors say apartments now cost up to €650k
Housing minister James Browne repeatedly rejected a return to a blanket no-fault eviction ban being introduced, saying it would 'kill supply'. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan
The Government does not take every report on housing as “gospel”, but will consider findings by chartered surveyors that the sale price of apartments is now as high as €650,000, the minister for housing has said.
A new report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI) found that affordability remains a barrier for people looking to buy apartments.
In particular, it found the cost of a two-bedroom apartment ranges between €480,000 and €650,000 for a suburban apartment.
The report found that, including Government supports, first-time buyers would need a combined salary of between €108,000 and €146,000 to afford such an apartment.
James Browne defended the Government’s recently published housing plan, ‘Delivering Homes, Building Communities’, saying it aims to increase the supply of housing.
However, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin questioned Mr Browne about the SCSI report, saying it blows a “huge hole in the very centre of your plan”.
He highlighted the fact that development costs for apartments have continued to rise, and pressed Mr Browne if he was concerned about the high gross income required for a couple to be able to afford an apartment.
In response, Mr Browne said the Government was aware of the high cost of delivering apartments, adding this is why there were measures including a Vat cut to make projects more viable.
He also highlighted changes to apartment specifications, saying it would bring Ireland in line with European standards.
Mr Ó Broin said that despite the Government’s viability measures, apartments would cost as much as €650,000.
“Who is going to buy them?” Mr Ó Broin asked.
Mr Browne said there were “significant measures” to address the issue of supply and affordability, highlighting schemes such as the help to buy scheme and the first home scheme.
The Sinn Féin TD said apartments would remain outside of the scope of supports such as the help to buy scheme, as they would be beyond the limits of the scheme.
Under the help to buy scheme, the maximum cost of a property that can be bought with the scheme is €500,000.
Asked if the Government would reconsider the housing plan, Mr Browne said: “We take into consideration any reports published by anybody, but we also don’t take any report as gospel.
“I’m pretty sure you’re not accepting everything in that report either.
“We don’t also blindly accept any report.”
Mr Browne also repeatedly rejected a return to a blanket no-fault eviction ban being introduced, saying it would “kill supply”.
In response to Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats housing spokesperson, Mr Browne said he needed to see the delivery of more properties to support renters who are “living at home who need somewhere to live”.
“Nobody is going to deliver additional properties into this State where there’s an eviction ban in place,” Mr Browne said.
Questioned by Fianna Fáil TD Séamus McGrath about the existing limits on State schemes, Mr Browne admitted there were issues and the limits were being kept under constant review.
“We want to ensure that we maximise the supports that people can get without driving inflation, without driving up the overall housing costs,” Mr Browne said.
It comes as the Department of Housing’s National Development Plan allocation was announced, with €20bn earmarked for social and affordable housing programmes until 2029.
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