Power To The Developers

Greystones 2030

atest press release from Jennifer Whitmore TD, issued on Friday, May 20th 2022…

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore said the government was more interested in lending a hand to developers instead of to ordinary working families when it comes to the housing crisis.

Deputy Whitmore was speaking alongside her colleagues on the SocDems Dáil motion which called on the government not to hand over nearly half a billion in funding to developers.

Over the hill…

Speaking on the issue, Deputy Whitmore says, “Instead of lending a hand to hard-struck people who can’t afford rising rents and house prices in Wicklow, the government is ready to hand over nearly half a billion euros to developers.

“The government plans to give developers a gift of €450,000,000 to subsidise the construction of apartments that will be sold at full market price. This translates into subsidies of up to €144,000 per apartment. According to the Housing Agency, these apartments will cost individuals up to €450,000 each, nowhere near affordable or within reach of ordinary working families or individuals.

“If we think the situation is already bad enough in the rental and housing sector, things are about to get worse as this injection of cash to developers will only increase prices further. A report recently published by the Irish Independent in April, revealed that in Wicklow the average cost to rent a property in Wicklow is €1,630 while the monthly mortgage payment of a home is approximately €1,320. That means that over the lifetime of a 30-year mortgage, people renting in Wicklow will be paying €111,552 more over that time period.

“As an illustration of how bad situation is in Wicklow, there is currently only one property available to rent in Bray on Daft.ie, and that’s for over €2,000/month. As if that isn’t bad enough, recent figures suggest that for every private house available to rent in Wicklow, there are 22 AirBnBs.

Delgany’s Stylebawn

“The housing market in Wicklow is beyond dysfunctional, yet the government seem completely disconnected to the reality for many people in our communities. I’ve had three individuals on to me in Wicklow facing homelessness, who earn too much for HAP yet too little to afford rents and have their whole lives in Wicklow. Some are facing having to completely uproot their lives and their kids to move another part of Ireland to afford rent.

“As predicted, the government did not vote in line with our motion and the handout to developers will go ahead.

“Why the government continues to prioritise developers over ordinary families and workers is beyond logic at this point and the government will have serious questions to answer in its lifetime in government as a result,” concludes Whitmore.