Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has said that ‘two years in and the Government housing plan is making the housing crisis worse.’ His comments were made on the second anniversary of the launch of the current Fianna Fáil Fine Gael housing plan.
 
Teachta Ó Broin said:
 
“After more than a year delay the Government finally launched their housing plan on September 2^nd2021. Last weekend marks the second anniversary of the plan. In the intervening two years almost every indicator shows that not only is the plan not working, it is actually making the housing crisis worse.
 
“Homelessness is not only a human tragedy. It is the most important litmus test of any Governments record on housing. In the last two years homelessness has increased by 56%. Child homelessness has increased by a staggering 78%.
 
“The principal reason for these shocking figures is the Governments failure to deliver an adequate supply of social and affordable homes. Government missed their social housing new build target by 17% last year and even worse missed their affordable housing target by 60%.
 
“We are almost at the end of the third quarter of 2024 and the Government has not yet released in Q1 or Q2 social and affordable housing progress report. This does not indicate that Government is making progress and all the indications are that Government will again miss its social and affordable housing targets this year.
 
“Meanwhile rents and house prices continue to rise. Since the Governments housing plan was introduced, rents have increased by 21% and house prices by 8%. New rents are now on average €3000 more a year than in 2021. It is now on average €22,000 more expensive to buy a home than in 2021.
 
“Controversial policies like the so-called help to buy and controversial shared equity loan scheme are pushing up house prices. Meanwhile the supply of genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy it pitifully low. Last year just 323 affordable purchase homes were delivered and just 684 cost rental homes were completed. No figures are available for this year.
 
“Across other critical areas of policy, the last two years have been marked by delay. The long-promised reform of the planning system is more than a year late. The regulations for the enhanced defective block scheme were delayed a year. The legislation for the redress scheme for homeowners and renters with Celtic Tiger era defects hasn’t even been published.
 
“The Government’s housing plan made big promises. Two years in and it has been marked by delay and poor delivery. Not only are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael failing to tackle the housing crisis. They are making it worse.
 
‘Only a change of Government and a Sinn Féin housing plan can start to undo the damage of decades of bad Fianna Fáil housing policy. The sooner that happens the better for all those in need of genuinely affordable homes.”