Irish Examiner view: Cutting back on flats and standards

Lessons must be learned from past mistakes

James Browne, the housing minister, is to suggest changes to the laws governing the building of apartments, but cutting the size of studio apartments is bound to catch the eye. Picture: Stephen Collins / Collins Photos

The ongoing housing and accommodation crisis continues to seep into all areas of life, and we seem no closer to finding a resolution. The crisis is of such proportions that it appears almost impossible to find an approach that may make a difference, with the latest idea from the Government a proposal to reduce apartment sizes.

James Browne, the housing minister, is to suggest changes to the laws governing the building of apartments, but cutting the size of studio apartments is bound to catch the eye — the aim is to reduce the minimum size of a studio apartment from 37 sq m to 32 sq m.

On paper, this has the potential to increase the supply of apartments considerably. The opposition has raised concerns, saying this move will reduce living standards, but Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin may have made a more salient point when suggesting the initiative is likely to raise the value of land and developers’ costs.

The minister’s suggestion that his changes will cut building costs by between €50,000 and €100,000 per apartment may be correct, but are there any grounds for optimism that such savings will be passed on to prospective buyers?

A more serious caveat surrounds the fire, accessibility, and environmental standards of these new apartments. The rush to build during the Celtic Tiger years left a poisoned legacy with which we are still contending, from the crisis with defective building blocks which plagued the north-west of the country in particular to the widespread issues with fire safety in apartment buildings.

As far back as 2002, a Garda superintendent recommended prosecution against a developer after two people died in an apartment fire but nothing came of it, while an expert report has estimated that between 62,500 and 100,000 apartments or duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 may have defects that require remediation.

This is worth bearing in mind when we consider sweeping changes to our apartment-building legislation. Lessons must be learned.

Keeping it in the community

Yesterday was Amazon Prime Day, though ‘day’ is a little misleading for a festival of spending which lasts some 96 hours, with analysts in America expecting buyers to spend up to $23.8bn (€27.6bn)across the four-day event this week.

Given Amazon recently opened a dedicated Irish shopping website, it is reasonable to expect a surge in spending here also.

It is entirely reasonable to expect people to be on the lookout for bargains, given the rise in prices across the board and the general increase in the cost of living, everyone is looking for value for money. Though children are off school at present, for instance, wary parents will be conscious of the need to stock up on various essentials for the return to the classrooms in a few weeks.

However, it should be pointed out that traditional Irish businesses are also in need of support. As recently as May, the Government established a small business unit aimed at giving SMEs in the country more focus and support. The unit is under the direction of Peter Burke, the enterprise, trade, and employment minister. He recently pointed out: “Small businesses employ two-thirds of our population and keep our local communities and economies vibrant and strong. Government must recognise this, and ensure we are providing the support that SMEs need to run their businesses successfully and continue to provide vital employment and economic benefit across the country.”

The contribution of small businesses to communities all over Ireland, big and small, is a telling point. It may be a cliche to hear such businesses stress that the money they generate remain within those communities, but it is also a fact.

The money spent on Amazon purchases goes, ultimately, on events such as the company owner Jeff Bezos’s recent wedding. The contrast could hardly be starker.

Hardline Tory

The death was announced yesterday of former British politician Norman Tebbit at the age of 94.

Tebbit served as a minister under Margaret Thatcher and came to embody hardline Tory attitudes. After the Brixton riots in 1981, he said his father had been unemployed in the 1930s but instead of rioting he “got on his bike and looked for work.” Later he became synonymous with the “cricket test”, when he suggested the teams British Asians supported in international cricket games showed whether they were loyal to Britain.

Described by his own party colleagues as abrasive, Tebbit is probably best remembered in Ireland for surviving the Brighton bombing in 1984. The IRA planted a large bomb in the Grand Hotel in Brighton while the Tory party conference was ongoing, killing five people, including one Tory MP.

Thatcher was unhurt by the bomb but the ceiling and floor of Tebbit’s room — directly beneath Thatcher’s — collapsed, burying him and his wife, also Margaret.

When they were rescued, she had suffered a broken neck and was paralysed for life; Tebbit had severe injuries to his ribs, shoulder, and pelvis. He did not stand in the 1992 election in order to care for his wife.

Strongly right-wing in his view, Tebbit maintained his involvement in Tory politics well into the 21st century but for many, he will always be a reminder of the grimmest part of the 1980s.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here