How we can defuse our housing crisis with the right policies

It is disheartening and disturbing to see once again the plight of so many people as they struggle to get reasonable and affordable accommodation, especially in some areas of Dublin city. Essentially we are witnessing a real and healthy market arising from real demand and supply.

This is unlike the situation that prevailed a number of years ago when a tidal wave or surfeit of cheap credit, compounded by perilous predispositions in our polity, energised an unconstructive hypertrophy and induced in many the alchemical notion that bricks and mortar could endlessly be converted into gold, ultimately creating an obscenely unhealthy and distorted market in residential accommodation.

However like all tidal cycles there was an ebb, the available credit receded (the credit crunch), leaving behind unsustainable development — the metabolism of our body politic is now suffering grievously.

The crisis in accommodation is exacerbated by factors which can or might conspire to distort this evolving market.

Firstly, what would be wrong with spacious, practical and well designed multi-storey apartment blocks, with rigorous bye laws to curtail/ prevent anti-social behaviour taking root, clarity regarding ongoing maintenance charges. Such apartments would cater for those who could afford to rent or buy them, and would at least provide extra supply in the market.

Secondly, as in many areas of our administration we have to contend with various boards, authorities, commissions and bodies, busy imposing stratospheric and expensive standards. What would be wrong with reasonable attainable and affordable standards, such as for bedsits, flats, rooms, garages. We can be sure many homeless people would be quite happy to live in said accommodation rather than sleeping in doorways or crowded hostels.

Thirdly, any government interventions should steer away from the idea of grants or tax incentives for house buyers, since previous efforts in this area simply and inevitably managed to further inflate prices.

We should give some consideration to a specific government activated and endorsed building society, requiring a commitment to savings, which could help give certainty to prospective buyers.

Eddie McGurrin

Hazelwood

Sligo