James Browne’s pledge to solve housing crisis in four years may come back to bite him
Housing minister James Browne speaking to media last Tuesday when he said the housing plan will be ready in the next week or two. The following day he went further, telling reporters in Skerries that he can fix the housing crisis in four years. Picture: Grainne Ní Aodha/PA
James Browne may regret promising to solve the housing crisis by the end of his term as housing minister.
Last Wednesday, he told reporters in Skerries that his aim was to fix the crisis within the next four years.
“I believe that can be done,” he said.
It was an uncharacteristic remark from Mr Browne, who can often be cautious in his public utterances.
And it led to some surprise from within opposition parties, and indeed, from within the ranks of his own Government colleagues.
One Fine Gael source said there are a significant number of memos on tackling the housing crisis, and that Mr Browne’s comments may create headaches in the years ahead.
“We’ve learned lessons in the past that we really regret these kinds of deadlines,” the source said, citing the previous promise from Enda Kenny to end homelessness by 2016.
It comes just days ahead of the new housing plan being unveiled, with it set to be formally approved by Cabinet on Wednesday before it is published on Thursday.
Some senior Government sources have sought to play down the plan over the last week, saying that significant elements have already been announced by Mr Browne.
This includes sweeping reforms to rent pressure zones, changes to apartment guidelines, and a slashed Vat rate on the sale of apartments, as unveiled in Budget 2026.
The plan, however, cannot just be a carbon copy of Housing For All with a few new “bells and whistles” attached. There is expected to be a focus on homelessness, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin previously saying it would seek to knit housing policy and homeless policies together.
It will need to take bold action to give the public some hope, particularly following a Department of Finance report that warned that the housing crisis could last for another 15 years.
Mr Browne believes he can defy this projection, saying the measures taken in the first year of his term “will deliver the homes that we need, and I think we’re really going to see those results in the very near future”.
While he might believe this, people need to be convinced, and this means seeing tangible results.
Trust was damaged significantly before this Government even took office by former housing minister Darragh O’Brien’s promise to deliver 40,000 homes last year.
On the day the Government was formed, the CSO showed there were just 30,330 houses built in 2024.
It was a stunning failure, with Mr O’Brien shifted from the housing portfolio to environment and transport, while Mr Browne was shunted into housing, in an unexpected appointment.
Mr Browne’s remarks that he can solve the crisis in his term of office could become a millstone around the whole Government’s neck.
It sets a bar that he will have to overcome, or at the next general election there will be significant ammunition for Sinn Féin and others to fire at Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the handful of supporting Independents.
The turnaround will need to be rapid, given the time it takes for housing projects to get through planning and construction.
Four years isn’t a lot to get to the uplift in housing that the country requires.
The Government needs to go from building 30,000 houses each year to over 60,000 to make a dent in the pent-up demand for accommodation.
This Government will live and die by its performance on housing. It was elected in 2024 on the basis that progress was being made.
The public may not be so forgiving in 2029 if they do not see the real turnaround Mr Browne has promised.
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