Bricking It

Mastering the monopolies…

e’s the man behind the Greystones Open Farm, and over the past eight years, Matt Wilson has been witness to the good, the bad and the ugly of this town.

Sure, we’re all blessed to live in such a beautiful and general healthy part of the world, but, scratch beneath the surface, and there’s darkness and despair aplenty.

One growing pain for many Greystonians is the ever-rising cost of putting a roof over your head, something that Matt and his family have first-hand experience of, after their landlord recently informed them he’s selling up.

We had planned to sit down and do an interview with young Wilson, but, we quickly realised that trying to understand and unravel our current housing crisis was more than GG’s little brain could handle.

And so, we decided to give the floor to Matt, and let him explain just why more and more people around here have no homes to go to…

A few days ago, Greystones Open Forum was 8 years old.

Over the years it has become a place our community to talk about local issues, to share good news or bad, and to seek support.

Often though, when people are in a difficult situation, they feel unable to talk publicly, sometimes out of embarrassment, other times for fear of consequence. Quite unexpectedly, people began to confide in me with difficult stories; of illness, of depression, of injustice, of financial hardship and of homelessness. Wishing to reach out but also remain anonymous.

So, I became a conduit, as they turned to me to ask our community for help.

Through these connections, I’ve felt desperation and helplessness, and the many impacts of the housing emergency on families in our community. The most frequent request for help has been to try to help people to find somewhere to live. But, where a few years ago the response to these requests was usually met with several messages, it seems availability has dried up.

On Monday, I posted to asked the group for a rental on behalf of my friend, a single parent. Very highly qualified, with a reliable income, but even they are struggling to see anything that they can stretch to. The same day, I was asked to find advice for friends hoping to build a home.

Over recent years, household income has remained relatively static while rental prices have soared, doubling since 2010. A few times in recent weeks, people have offered homes to rent on the forum. It’s a real eye-opener when people are confronted with the current market value. There are always stunned and angry reactions when people consider the cost.

Looking today at local rental prices on property sites Daft and MyHome, small on-e or two-bedroom apartments now command upwards of €1,400 a month, ranging to almost €2,000 in central locations. Three-bed homes start at just under €2,000 a month.

A three-child family needing more space would expect to spend somewhere in the region of €2,500 a month for a four-bedroom home. These should be middle-income homes, but people aren’t earning that sort of money. Average Dublin rents are now over €2,000 a month, driving demand into the commuter towns.

Supply is tight. On Myhome this morning, there were only 33 advertised rental properties across Co Wicklow. And on Daft, there are just 88. According to the Central Statistics Office, in 2016 the median household income in Wicklow was €48,392. In the commutable parts of Wicklow, you will find most 3-bed rent will absorb around €24,000 a year.

The news today showed that the average national rent has jumped to over €1,400 a month. In response, politicians from two parties have begun to talk about a rent freeze. This is not a measured strategy.

It is too little too late, and will only force more small landlords out of the market. It will compound the supply issue outside Dublin and strengthen the position of the vulture funds who won’t be affected by a rent freeze having already set their rental at €1,950 for a one-bed apartment, €2,570 for a two-bed and €1,300 for a bedsit. So, unfortunately, this isn’t a sustainable answer.

What politicians are not prepared to do is to grasp the nettle and admit that we must adopt a Vienna style social housing strategy to create a sustainable housing market. We have to face the fact that vulture fund developers are not motivated by sustainable goals, they have no drive to build quality social or desire for affordable housing. Investors by nature are only interested in their 9% yields!

So we must shift our strategy and build homes with communities as the focus and not investment funds. Current market conditions are not sustainable. Above-average earners with a reasonable deposit can not borrow enough to buy the homes that developers are building.

There’s a Goodbody report from this summer that says the same thing. Although supply is running behind demand there has been a growing unsold stock! The homes that have been built cost more than most incomes and Central Bank rules will permit us to buy. Growing, unsold and overpriced stock, means development projections are now of a deceleration in supply, even though the demand remains. Exacerbating pressure on rental.

The government must take action to ensure that this potential opportunity from unsold stock isn’t also snapped up in bulk, on the cheap, to rent by these same vulture funds. It will just mask the dysfunction in housing supply and compound the affordable supply problem. Vulture funds could not wish for a better environment.

Based on the Central Statistics Office figures it is clear that an average Wicklow family income can not buy an average Wicklow family home. Families assessing their options between rental vs a mortgage, face an almost insurmountable inequity.

The homes they are being forced to rent are costing them far more than any home the Central Bank lending limits would allow them to purchase. So, a growing number of families are trapped in the stressful and insecure rental market. They are getting older, their accommodation options grow ever more precarious.

Retirement age edges closer, the window to be able to secure any home loan shrinks out of reach, while most haven’t the capacity to save for a pension as rent is eating up what they have. This is a huge social and economic time bomb. It is a matter of real urgency, that we must address the disparity between rental cost and mortgage cost. Our current housing strategy has created an easy market to capture and exploit.

Unless we create an equitable and secure rental environment, as they have in Vienna, then the current Irish housing strategy will only serve to feed and widen the captive rental market that enriches the vulture funds.