A defining moment for all of us - Housing crisis

EVERY advertisement offering a chance to invest in — bet if you’re of a more sceptical disposition — a financial product now carries the caveat “investments may go down as well as up ...”

However, because of our bizarre, overly emotional and socially unsustainable relationship with bricks and mortar, and land too, those who invest in property hope their “investment” is a one-way bet. They hope their punt is too big to fail even if the chastening, wealth-destroying evidence to the contrary is all around us.

Yet, that expectation seems to be at the root of the philosophical opposition to any form of rent control even though economies, and some might argue societies too, far more efficient and equitable than ours — Germany and Holland particularly — have had rent control for generations. It is at the root too of the spat between Environment Minister Alan Kelly, who wants some form of rent control, and Finance Minister Michael Noonan who has, apparently, blocked proposals on the issue. One view seems to protect people’s rights and needs, the other champions property rights and come-what-may investment expectations. The great challenge is to make those opposing positions fit and work together. Rent control seems a reasonable way to achieve that.