The Irish Independent's View: New housing excuses sound remarkably similar to the old ones

Irish Independent

21 hours ago

The minister talked up returning vacant properties to the market and the potential for social housing and rental accommodation. Strategies will include streamlining the planning process, strategic use of land, funds for local authorities and more specific schemes. Construction levies and taxation will also be looked at.
To understand the issue better from the inside out, and then to put measures in place that are practical and action-orientated, the minister was meeting with a wide variety of stakeholders.
He also acknowledged that things will probably get worse before they get better.
If this all sounds remarkably familiar, it's because this account of an interview by the housing minister is almost a decade old. This time nine years ago, the housing minister Simon Coveney was building up towards his big announcement of an action plan for housing. 'Rebuilding Ireland' was published in the summer of 2016 – complete with the commitment to end homelessness.
Browne's overhaul of Rent Pressure Zones will arguably make the cost of rent worse
Fast forward nine years and the current occupant of the Custom House, James Browne, is talking in strikingly similar terms about the imperative to increase supply. Browne's overhaul of Rent Pressure Zones will arguably make the cost of rent worse, initially, in order to increase the supply in the longer run, thereby making things better. But the minister doesn't appear to have the political wit to acknowledge there are immediate downsides to his plans.
The impact of the lack of supply in the market is illustrated today in the Irish Independent/REA Average House Price Index. The survey shows asking prices still rising as buyers become desperate to get a home they can call their own. This summer, the minister will also launch an action plan for housing – the latest iteration of a running theme for a decade.
Emerging from the ashes of the Celtic Tiger crash, successive governments of similar hues have failed to sufficiently increase the output of housing to anywhere near the levels required. A record 93,419 houses and apartments were built in 2006 – the highest rate in Europe. Nowadays we seem to be lucky if we break the 30,000 mark. Even the Government's bluff figure of 40,000 is well below that of a generation ago.
Whatever bells-and-whistles plan is launched this time will doubtless try to suggest that the initiatives identified are new and therefore deserving of time to bed in and deliver results. It's a hard sell at this stage as the housing excuses wear thin for this Coalition. It is simply not credible to ask the public to ignore what has gone before simply because there is a new minister appointed in a newly formed government.
Meet the new boss, he sounds remarkably similar to the old boss. Clear, coherent and credible policies will get a better reception than being told it will be different this time around.