Paying ageing city dwellers to move to the country would free up thousands of second hand homes for young families and dramatically ease inflation in the housing market, a leading estate agent has said.
"Relocation grants" for elderly Dublin residents should be considered as a way of boosting the supply of second hand houses in the capital, according to Mr Mark FitzGerald, chief executive of Sherry FitzGerald.
As availability of second hand homes dwindles towards an historic low, it is clear the Government must explore "creative solutions" to the logjam, Mr FitzGerald told a briefing of key players in the property sector yesterday.
Only 8,000 second-hand houses went on sale in Dublin last year - less than 10 per cent of the total number of homes put on the market.
People in their 50s and 60s who moved to Dublin from the regions and had maintained ties with their native counties might be persuaded to relocate if financial inducements are offered, Mr FitzGerald said.
The cost could be recouped from the increased stamp duty which would accrue to the State through heightened activity in the second hand market. Grants could be linked to this levy - thus the owner of a second hand house worth €450,000 could expect to receive an allowance in the region of €40,000.
High-rise apartments were likely to account for the bulk of new developments in the capital over coming years - but such were not always suitable for rearing families, Mr FitzGerald said.
Sherry Fitzgerald is one of the largest and most influential auctioneers and is quoted on the stock market. Shares in the group closed unchanged at €1.40 yesterday.
The Department of the Environment, which is responsible for housing policy, was baffled by the suggestion. A spokesman said the idea had never been mooted nor was he aware of such an experiment being attempted abroad.
Consumer representatives poured cold water on Mr FitzGerald's idea, citing it as just the latest example of the pressure which was being exerted on middle aged home owners.
In the wake of EBS building society's controversial Familyfirst mortgage - which allows parents to remortgage their homes to pay for their children's housing deposit - it is apparent that the "baby-boom" generation is being held to account for the current housing deficit, said Mr Dermot Jewell, chief executive of the Consumer's Association.
"This is a huge cultural shift. Irish people have always believed that the house in which they reared their families would be the one they stayed in for the rest of their life. This assumption is coming increasingly under attack recently.
