General election 2024: What are the issues in housing?
Housing is a central issue in this election, from building targets and government supports for prospective house buyers to rising rents and building defects
Housing defects
What has happened to the cowboys who built defective apartments? Absolutely nothing
No prosecutions, no financial costs, no names and damn all shame
Minister for Housing ‘angry’ at rogue developers but has no plans to pursue them
Darragh O’Brien says it is a ‘great frustration’ that many companies to blame have folded and set back up again
Most apartment blocks lack adequate funds for essential upkeep
Property owners face risks if they fail to plug funding gap, experts warn
Have we learned anything from shoddy Celtic Tiger building?
Building Control Authorities here have the full-time equivalent of just 58 officers. Ireland’s councils simultaneously employ 74 dog wardens
Talks on fixing defects at Belmayne stall as sides disagree over number of houses involved
Development in north Dublin, launched with fanfare in 2006, has been plagued with construction issues including pyrite
Donegal homeowners moving into mobile homes as Government defective bricks scheme kicks in
Severe shortage of rental accommodation on Inishowen peninsula affecting families who want to have their defective homes rebuilt
‘It wasn’t a home – it killed them’: The young couple killed in an apartment fire and the safety defects that remain
As the remediation scheme for defective homes trudges through the legal system, the families of the 2002 fire victims continue to mourn
New building standards watchdog to be set up under plans to be considered by Ministers
Proposals to reform probate and conveyancing and strategy expected to go to Cabinet
Cash only, please: why you can’t buy some properties if you need a mortgage
When a property goes to market seeking a cash-only buyer, it’s sometimes down to construction, planning and boundary issues
TDs and Senators hear concerns over new fire safety regulations for complex buildings
Latest measures do not extend requirement for sprinklers in underground car parks, Oireachtas Committee on Housing told
Only 61 defective homes fully remediated under scheme launched in 2021, committee hears
Government yet to appoint senior counsel to investigate defective blocks controversy despite promise last year
Rent increase restrictions to be extended until after next general election
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to seek Cabinet approval for extension of Rent Pressure Zone rules until December 2025
Owners vote to accept builder’s offer of €150,000 to settle legal action over decaying roof
Roof of one of the blocks at Hyde Square apartment complex in Kilmainham had to be held together with push/pull ties
Why doesn’t remediation scheme for building defects apply to apartments built before 1991?
Many may have to pay large sums to make their buildings fire-safety compliant
Fire safety defects: Funding for interim measures to help Celtic Tiger-era apartment owners is announced
The owners of up to 100,000 affected buildings stand to benefit from the measures, rolled out in advance of more comprehensive State support scheme being finalised
Redress scheme for Celtic Tiger-era apartments to be ready next year, Varadkar says
Taoiseach tells Dáil he and other Cabinet members ‘personally affected’ by building defects
‘Race against time’ for €2.5bn apartment remediation scheme as timeline pushed back
Legislation is now due to pass in 2024, with payments set to be in place later that year — close to next election
Up to €8bn may be diverted from new sovereign wealth fund for home-building
Plan involves agency establishing panel of five or six private developers with whom it would work on specific construction projects
Eoin Ó Broin: A constitutional right to housing could restore faith in our political system
Amending the Constitution would not fix our broken housing system, but it could establish a basic floor of protection
Land Development Agency to begin buying private sites for quick delivery of public housing
State body to expand activity so public, social and affordable housing projects can move quickly to construction
New-build home starts up 25% on same month last year, says Department of Housing
Figures cautiously welcomed by homeless charities who emphasise ‘delivery of social housing must be maintained’
Remediation of houses with defective blocks could cost €2bn without fully resolving issues
Engineering Ireland to tell Oireachtas committee that more research needed on mica and pyrite
Interim fire safety measures urged for defective buildings
Alarm systems, emergency lighting and increased fire safety inspections recommended to address defects estimated to affect up to 100,000 Celtic Tiger-era apartments
‘That would floor me’: Homeowners who paid €17,000 to fix apartment defects fear exclusion from State support
Cabinet approved in January plans to fund repair of defective apartments but resistance in Government departments has left owners nervous
Building watchdog claims State facing ‘national emergency’ over regulation
Seen & Heard: Regulator’s warning; Michael O’Leary’s big payday; and the Rotunda’s Clerys Quarter move
Fast-build modular housing held back by resistance at local level, TDs hear
Oireachtas committee told about absence of national standard approach by planners
Government ‘dragging its heels’ on apartment defect redress details, campaigners say
People in apartments with fire safety issues still ‘living with fear’
Pyrite repair target reduced last year due to staffing and supply chain issues
Housing Agency is told target of premises to be repaired was reduced to 242 from 285 in 2022
Pyrite remediation to cost estimated €230m by 2026, figures show
Scheme for those affected by mica and defective blocks could cost State more than €3.65bn
Can we compile a list of who built the crappy apartments so we might consult it when considering future buildings?
Many boom-time builders and developers grew rich on the back of tens of thousands of shoddy and dangerous apartments. Should we not identify these people?
Leaking windows, mouldy walls and poor insulation: The grim stories of Ireland’s defective apartments
Niamh Towey led an investigation into the scale of shoddy building practices during the Celtic Tiger era and heard the grim stories of many owners
Officials flagged concerns about €2.5bn defective apartments remediation scheme
Concerns about proposal in plan to repay property owners who have already paid remediation costs
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