Gov sides with developers over young families on housing

national | consumer issues | press release Tuesday January 20, 2004 16:22 by rayo - lp

Labour Party Spokesperson on the Environment, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, has accused the government of “siding with property developers rather than first time house buyers” following the publication of statistics yesterday showing the average house price in Dublin now tops EU 300, 000.

Deputy Gilmore commented, “Whilst yesterday’s Housing Statistics Bulletin showed that there is enough zoned land to satisfy housing demand for the next five years in Dublin and seven years nationally, the sad reality is that prospective house buyers are completely priced out of the market by ever-increasing costs.

“Prices continue to increase at more than four times the current annual rate of inflation. Most people’s incomes will rise only at or around the level of general inflation, so families seeking housing will still find a huge gap between what they can afford and what is available.

“The continued increase in the cost of housing is all the more difficult to accept, given that the price of building materials has remained virtually static over the past year.

“The main cause for spiralling house prices is the huge increase in the cost of building land. The government has persistently blocked any attempt to do anything about this; including voting down a Labour Party Bill designed to control the cost of building land in the autumn.

“Until the government is prepared to face up to this issue the cost of houses will continue to rise and young families will be unable to afford to live in the areas in which they have grown up.”