Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has called on the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to scrap his shared equity home loan scheme, labelling it ‘a developer-led scheme that will push up house prices.’

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“During private members’ time this Wednesday, Sinn Féin will call on the government to scrap Fianna Fáil’s developers scheme and use the funding instead for the delivery of genuine affordable homes to rent and to buy.

“The scheme Fianna Fáil want to introduce was written by property developers for property developers, and closely mirrors a similar scheme in place in Britain.

“Evidence available on the British version of the scheme shows that it pushes up house prices and delivers homes where they are not needed.

“The Fianna Fáil plan will not make homes more affordable and it will saddle working people with too much debt. It will not help a generation that has been locked out of homeownership due to the rising cost of homes.

“It is not just Sinn Féin that thinks that this scheme should be scrapped. A group of councillors from Fine Gael wrote to the Minister for Housing urging him to scrap the Shared Equity Loan scheme as it risked a ‘return to failed housing policies of the Celtic Tiger era’.

“The ESRI, the Central Bank, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers and the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform all have concerns that this plan may  increase the price of homes.

“Sinn Féin has a fully costed plan that will deliver the genuinely affordable homes to rent and to buy that working people need.

“We cannot return to the same old Fianna Fáil developer-led policies of the past. People deserve better.”