Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has said that €500,000 for a standard home is not affordable on Oscar Traynor Road or anywhere else.

He added that hard-working families have been betrayed by a government more interested in lining the pockets of big developers than ensuring people can put an affordable roof over their heads

The Dublin Mid-West TD’s comments were made in response to an announcement of the cost of so-called affordable homes on the former Dublin City Council site on Oscar Traynor Road.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“In 2021, Dublin City Council controversially sold a site on Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock to Glenveagh to deliver social, affordable purchase and affordable cost-rental homes.

“At the time, Sinn Féin councillors voted against the sale of the land to Glenveagh on the grounds that the development model would not deliver genuinely affordable homes.

“This week, Dublin City Council announced the price of the new homes.

“The full cost of a three-bed home is €500,000. Purchasers buy the homes at prices between €399,731 and €475,000. The Local Authority acquires the difference between the full market price, and this must ultimately be paid back by the homeowners or their children.

“To be eligible for one of these €500,000 homes you would need a gross household income of €106,875.

“€500,000 for a three-bed home is not affordable on the Oscar Traynor Road or anywhere else.

“The full price for a two-bed home is €450,000, with an initial price of between 355,769 and €427,500. You must be earning €96,188 to afford one of these.

“Worse still, councillors were told in 2021, prior to agreeing the same of the land, that the prices would be much lower. They were also told that the prices were fixed.

“Councillors were misled, and the local community were misled.

“The area of Dublin desperately needs affordable homes for working people on incomes of €60,000 and €70,000 to be able to buy their own home.

“This site should never have been sold. It should have been developed by Dublin City Council with homes sold at or close to the cost of construction. This would have meant prices between €250,000 and €290,000.

“Instead, hard working families have been betrayed by a government more interested in lining the pockets of big developers than ensuring people can put an affordable roof over their heads.”