Notes on the Front

You’d think that the monthly release of property prices was the ultimate barometer of not only the health of the housing market but the economy as a whole.  Are they finally increasing?  Are they still falling?  What are houses worth in Euros and cents? 

But what about those in need of housing?  Any signs of recovery there?

There are nearly 90,000 households in need of social housing.  These households make up approximately 170,000 people.  60 percent have been waiting for two years or longer and since the start of the crisis, the numbers in need have increased by 60 percent. 

Yes, we all know that there is a fiscal crisis and that money is tight.  Yet the Government has found it possible to spend money on trying to reflate property and housing market activity:  house renovation incentive, Living City initiative, property purchase incentive, REITs (real estate investment trusts), mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers, abolition of multiple Stamp Duty rates for non-residential properties, etc.

So what about those in housing need?  The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice puts the government’s response in perspective:

‘ . . while the numbers in need of social housing have been growing, the output of new social housing units has been dwindling. The output of new social housing units has dropped by 82% between 2008 and 2012, with only 1,391 new units added to the national stock of social housing in 2012.’

So the numbers in housing need have increased by 60 percent and social housing output has fallen by 82 percent.

I guess those waiting for accommodation will have to wait for property prices to improve.  Then, maybe, they might get a look-in on the national agenda.