Living In The House Of Mum & Dad

Blend it like Beckham…

atest press release from Jennifer Whitmore TD, issued on Friday, November 22nd 2024…

Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has warned that the housing crisis is having a multi-generational impact in Wicklow.

“The lack of affordable housing is coming up on the doors again and again and it’s not just impacting people trying to buy or rent homes,” commented Whitmore.

“I’m hearing from the parents of children in their 20s, 30s and 40s who can’t afford to buy their own home and are struggling to find an affordable place to rent. Parents with teenagers are worried about how the housing crisis is going to impact their children’s future by dictating where they can go to college or work and if they’ll end up having to go abroad

“There’s a lot of frustration and anger about the situation and underneath that people are worried about their children. We have half a million adults living back in their childhood bedrooms. In some homes we’re seeing three or even four generations under the same roof because they simply can’t afford to buy or rent their own home.

“Last week Daft.ie published their quarterly report and revealed that rental prices have increased nationally by 8.3% over the last year and that the average rent in Wicklow is now €2,063 a month. These prices are not affordable or sustainable and are pushing people to their limits,” added Deputy Whitmore.

“At the end of September 2024, a national survey by Real Estate Alliance indicated that the price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Wicklow had increased to €370,800, up 1.6% from €365,000 in the three months preceding that. But, in reality, house prices across the county vary hugely depending on location. This week the CSO published their Residential Property Price Index for September 2024 and reported the average house price in Greystones as €567,524. The average price in Bray was €557,455, and Wicklow Town came in at €427,697. These prices were between 0.93% and 1.95% higher than in September 2023. How can someone paying over €2,000 a month in rent afford to save for a deposit when both the price of renting and buying are constantly climbing?”

“The housing crisis needs to be tackled like the emergency that it is. We in the Social Democrats have a plan to do this. We want to build 50,000 affordable purchase homes and 25,000 affordable rental homes over a 5 year period. By building homes on State-owned land and providing the necessary funding and support for the not-for-profit building sector as well as creating specific zoning for affordable housing so that only genuinely affordable homes can be built on specified areas of land, we can achieve this.

“We want to deliver affordable homes for €300,000 or less in Dublin and €260,000 outside of Dublin. In Government we would introduce a three-year rent freeze and cap rents in affordable rental properties at €1,200 in Dublin and €1,000 outside of Dublin. These aren’t radical ideas, countries across Europe have successfully introduced these measures for years, to provide affordable homes and build sustainable communities.

“There is no reason that we cannot do the same here in Ireland,” concluded Jennifer Whitmore.