Need for more affordable housing schemes highlighted

Offaly County Council should consider making publicly owned land available to developers to build affordable housing for homeowners.

That is according to one county councillor, who's calling on the local authority to consider establishing an affordable housing scheme, in light of the fact that housing continues to be a “big issue” for many people.

Speaking to the Tribune last week, Cllr John Leahy, Cathaoirleach of Birr Municipal District, explained he was highlighting the issue in the context of the current preparations of the new Offaly County Development Plan 2021 – 2027. “Housing is a big issue in terms of how we as a council predict what kind of future housing needs are out there,” he outlined. “A number of councillors are saying there's not enough land being zoned to match the housing demand that's there. The one problem I see is that people are coming to me and they are looking to get onto the housing list.”

He went on to explain what he's experiencing is that people, who are in employment and would like to purchase a house, but they are renting and can't save for a deposit. “They are never going to own their own home because they can't afford a mortgage, have been refused by two financial institutions and they are getting nowhere.”

So then what they are doing is, he outlined, is that some people are coming to him and telling him “they have cut their days back at work” so they can get under the council's income threshold to get on the housing list. “Then these people come under the threshold and what happens then is they qualify for the Council's waiting list and they may have to wait four or five years but they believe they are better waiting these four or five years in that scenario then waiting for a lifetime another way and going nowhere.”

“They are getting into the system and they are doing their time on the waiting list in the hope they are going to get a council house. Can you blame them? Absolutely, you can't blame them. The one thing that people, who are out in the workforce want, is they want to be able to have their family home and not be paying for rented accommodation.”

“There is a major demand for housing at the moment while there's a shortage of property on the market.... I have always made the point that people, who are paying income tax and contribute to the coffers of the country. This taxpayers' money is being used to contribute to the building of social housing. However, it's ironic to think that someone, who has spent all their lives paying tax and rent, is actually contributing to the security of someone else getting a house rather than themselves.”

According to the Independent Councillor, these were the people what he referred previously to as the “working poor”.

Asking the councillor if it was people working around the system to get onto the housing list, Cllr Leahy replied: “My argument, is that one of the biggest motivators in anyone's life is to try and secure a family home and it's one of the biggest decisions in anyone's to buy a home. It's unfortunate that people have to 'work the system' because the system isn't working for them. I can't say to someone that this is the wrong thing to do because how is it the wrong thing to do, to reduce your hours so that you can secure a home for your family. That is the way, I would think of that.”

Having seen an increase in the numbers of people coming to him in this situation, Cllr Leahy pointed out what the Council need to come up with publicly owned land, go out and give developers an incentive e.g. The council give up five acres, look for expressions of interest to build units on the land and then have a tender process. “What is out there at the moment is an affordable housing scheme, nationally but it's only for Dublin,” he remarked.

Cllr Leahy stated: “If we use that model and expand it, the state handing over land and if there's a proper tender process, straight away, the builder doesn't have the cost of the site and take the average price of building a unit, this brings back the price of the unit. The council should also be waiving their contribution and development fees because it's a special category you are working on.”

Later, he said with the figures he had, a developer could sell a house back to the council on council owned land for about €170,000/€180,000. “Then straight away, the person, who couldn't get a loan from the bank, then qualifies for the council's loan scheme, which is still available,” he continued.

Continuing, Cllr Leahy said the Housing Minister was now indicating he would be putting up the threshold for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme, which is facilitated through the council. However, the councillor had concerns about this because if the thresholds were “pushed up” it was going to increase the price of property.

“What he needs to do is look at this differently. What should be done is bring the unit price down on publicly owned land, which can be controlled in some way and you aren't interfering with the housing market. My fear is that he [the Minister] is just throwing money at the problem, which is going to give more money to the likes of developers,” he concluded.