Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has said that government housing policy is driving house prices ever higher.

The Dublin Mid-West TD’s comments were made as the CSO property price index for April shows house prices continuing to spiral upwards.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“The latest CSO Property Price Index shows house prices rising by 8% in the 12 months to April. The report also shows that new house price inflation continues to run ahead of second-hand homes at 8.4% and 5.7% respectively. The median price of a home bought in April was €335,000 with new home prices even higher.

“Government housing policy is driving house prices ever higher. Their failure to deliver a sufficient volume of affordable homes for working people to buy combined with the flatlining of new homes coming onto the market is the direct cause of house price inflation.

“When combined with inflationary schemes such as the so-called Help to Buy Scheme and the high risk shared equity loan scheme, house prices can only go up.

“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are not on the side of aspiring homeowners. They are the parties of big developers and institutional investors. That is who their policies are benefiting.

“The losers are hard working singles and couples unable to buy their own home, trapped in an insecure and expensive private rental sector, forced to live at home with their parents or even worse forced to emigrate.

“As long as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government, the worse the housing crisis will get. Only a change of government and a Sinn Féin housing plan that prioritises the delivery of tens of thousands of genuinely affordable homes can undo the damage of decades of bad government housing policy.”