A home is a right and not just a commodity

When the Government unveiled its social housing strategy last November it announced its intention to accommodate everyone (90,000 households) on the Housing Waiting Lists by 2020.

Even with a budget of €3.8bn, it is difficult to see how this can be achieved. There has been little or no investment in social housing for decades and waiting lists have trebled since the 1990s.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly said on Thursday that more than €151m has been allocated for construction and purchase of 1,000 social housing units across the country.

Even if all those homes were secured by the end of the year — an unlikely prospect — it would, at that rate, take 90 years for the Government to fulfil its promise.

The housing situation is beyond crisis. Private rents are soaring in Dublin and now stand at less than 10%t off peak levels. The cost of a home in the capital is 10 times the average annual wage, which means the housing list is bound to grow further.

In Limerick, the city council does not have a single three-bed home to rent with 4,000 people on the waiting list there.

Instead of making lofty promises, Mr Kelly should take note of campaigner Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, who is demanding that the Government recognise a home is a basic human right.