GETTING BEHIND THE PLAN WITH HOUSING FOR ALL, WE NOW HAVE A PLAN THAT AIMS TO SOLVE THE HOUSING CRISIS. WHAT DO SURVEYORS THINK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE IT WORK?
H
ousing for All is an ambitious plan that aims to
including private, affordable, rental and cost rental, and social.
increase housing unit output to 33,000 per year up
The SCSI welcomes the plan and is eager to see it succeed.
to 2030. This will be spread across multiple tenures
are there and it’s attempting to ramp up construction that will be needed to fulfil the target of
THE RESIDENTIAL VIEW
33,000 units per year, which is essentially doubling the output”. House ownership, rental and social housing are all at the core of the plan. Paul explains that the SCSI has been campaigning for some time to set clear targets per tenure type and the plan now contains these. One of the big issues on the ground that Paul sees is the gap between affordability and viability, which is a big issue. From a residential surveyor’s perspective, one of the points in the plan that is relevant is the first home shared equity scheme, which Paul says is a very important and positive initiative. Outside
Paul Hannon, Director of New Homes in Munster, Sherry FitzGerald
of the Greater Dublin Area, Paul says: “The first home shared equity scheme could be very relevant because of the price points and because wages are lower and, generally, house prices are as well”.
Paul welcomes the plan as wide ranging, wants
Paul says what we need now is a swift implementation of the proposed policy measures in
it to be a success and believes it recognises the
Housing for All, and further measures to address issues like building costs, investor exodus,
current failings in the market. We should focus
viability and affordability: “The extension of the Help to Buy scheme to the end of 2022 was
on the opportunities contained within the plan
positive, but it should be committed to for a longer period of time so that it gives certainty”.
rather than the challenges, he says: “There’s a
From a rental point of view, Paul explains that small investors are still leaving the Irish market
lot of work gone into it, there’s a lot of detail in
in droves. Between 2016 and 2020, tenancies registered with the RTB fell by nearly 22,000. That’s
it. We’re still waiting on a lot of detail to come
adding to the lack of rental stock, and to rental inflation as well, and there isn’t a lot in Housing
through but it’s acknowledging the issues that
for All to address this.
FEATURE Colm Quinn Journalist and Sub-Editor, Think Media
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SURVEYORS JOURNAL Volume 11, Issue 4, Winter 2021
