Letters

Tackling the housing crisis

Problems and solutions

Tue Dec 05 2023 - 00:14

Sir, – I note that the State-funded Land Development Agency and Dublin City Council have submitted a proposal to An Bord Pleanála to provide 700 homes in Cherry Orchard (“More than 700 social and cost-rental homes planned for Cherry Orchard”, News, December 1st).

Of these 700 homes, only 49 will be three-bedroom units.

This is totally unacceptable and the city council should know better.

How are families to obtain adequate accommodation if public developers are now joining those in the private sector in persistently insisting on providing multiple occupancy housing schemes with mostly one-bedroom and two-bedroom units? The whole point of providing housing, public and private, is to cater for the needs of citizens and their families and not just to squeeze in as many units as possible and squeeze out as much profit as possible. – Yours, etc,

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HUGH PIERCE,

Celbridge,

Co Kildare.

Sir, – Jim O’Sullivan (Letters, December 2nd) refers to the impact on housing supply when a landlord sells a previously rented property. He notes that the house does not evaporate but can still be used as a home. This viewpoint maintains that there is no problem because the total housing stock remains unchanged.

This misunderstanding arises because the two markets – housing and tenants – are both segmented and, crucially, independent of each other. Occupiers of houses are segmented into owners and tenants; housing is segmented into rented and owned. Due to the independence factor, it does not mean that when a house switches from being offered for rental to being sold to an owner/occupier that the previous tenant, or any tenant, automatically becomes an owner. This is because many tenants cannot afford to buy, or choose not to, with the result that the population of tenants remains the same while the stock of housing offered for rental is reduced. The problem is, of course, compounded by the overall shortage of suitable properties for the displaced tenants to rent. This problem will continue because many small landlords do not regard their property as a long-term investment for rental purposes. They have acquired their property for a variety of reasons, such as pension income, through inheritance, etc. So any development, such as the increased problems of complying with regulations or, in particular, the removal of autonomy over ownership and the right to sell will tempt them to leave the rental sector, thus adding to the housing problem as summarised above. – Yours, etc,

JOHN CASEY,

Bray,

Co Wicklow.

Sir, – I am sure, like myself, many of your readers will have noticed the number of empty office blocks in and around Dublin. This is the same city that has many immigrants sleeping outdoors in the current freezing weather. Would it not be possible to adapt these office blocks to accommodate the homeless? After all these blocks will have electricity, water, toilets and even in some cases kitchens. I realise the open-plan designs would require the construction of temporary partitions.

However, I suspect our planning authorities are not able to be sufficiently flexible to agree to such conversions. Time for action. – Yours, etc,

MIKE CORMACK,

Blackrock,

Co Dublin.