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Cork TD: We must find homes for young generation

EchoLive.ie, 8 Sep

The housing crisis is failing Ireland’s young people, who are forced to

stay with their parents - it is time for real change, says THOMAS

GOULD, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central

68% of young Irish adults, between the ages of 25 and 29, are still

living in their parents’ home, painting a stark picture of our housing

crisis.

    

Thomas Gould

RECENT Eurostat figures showing that 68% of young Irish adults, between

the ages of 25 and 29, are still living in their parents’ home, painted

a stark picture of the reality of this housing crisis.

Countries like Denmark, Sweden and Finland sit below 7%, the European

Union average is 42%.

For many of the more than 500,000 adults recorded in the 2022 census as

living with their parents, this is not a choice.

New rents registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in Cork

are on average €1,109 in the county and €1,490 in the city - rising

almost 9% annually.

Where a young person can pay these extreme rents, supply is so low that

it is near impossible to find somewhere.

On the day I wrote this article, there were 43 properties to rent in

Cork city on daft.ie. That is 43 properties for everyone - students to

young professionals to families and to older people.

Many young people may have once lived outside of home. With evictions

on the rise, it is inevitable that some who once had that independence

will be forced back into their parents’ home.

In the second three months of this year alone, 720 families and

individuals were given an eviction notice.

With no more than 120 properties to rent in Cork on any day, the

conclusion must be drawn that many of these will not find a new rental

property.

Without parents stepping in where the government have failed,

homelessness in this state would skyrocket.

The eviction ban was put in place last winter. The government sat idly

by for the duration of this ban and then cruelly lifted it.

They have still not implemented their promise that tenants would be

given first refusal on their home, despite announcing this in March.

We need an eviction ban and we need a government to enact an emergency

response for the duration of this ban.

This includes significant ramping up of the tenant in-situ scheme

(which sees local authorities purchase homes of tenants who are on the

social housing list and facing eviction), a three -year rent freeze,

and an increase in the building of public homes.

When Sinn Féin points out the shocking figures in the private rental

sector to government, we are pointed towards the Cost Rental scheme.

This in itself represents huge potential for solving issues in the

rental sector, but delivery is nowhere near demand. In September, 2022,

there were more than 900 applications for just 32 cost-rental units in

Cork city. Of a national target for only 900 cost-rental homes last

year, the government managed to build just 300.

The maths simply doesn’t add up to a credible solution for young

people. We need to see real, ambitious investment in cost-rental.

Investment alongside increased targets and real delivery.

When renting is not an option, the question arises: Why can’t young

people purchase homes to move out of their parents’ home?

House prices, like private rent prices, are too high for many ordinary

working people. Homeownership rates are falling consistently according

to the CSO. Daft.ie’s latest report showed that the average home in

Cork city now costs more than €320,000.

Yet, regularly we are hearing the Minister announce another new scheme.

Many of these, like the first-refusal scheme, aren’t fully thought out

and take months to implement. Others, such as Help to Buy, have been

shown to increase house prices and only benefit those who don’t need

them.

Further schemes, such as Croí Cónaithe (a grant of €30,000 for vacant

and €50,000 for derelict property renovations), could have positive

impacts but lack the funding and resourcing.

Many of the government’s schemes are only available to first-time

buyers purchasing a new-build property.

On the day I wrote this article, six new build developments were

advertised on Daft.ie in Cork city. The lowest price for one of these

homes was €400,000. A person looking to purchase one of these homes

would need to be earning €102,857.

With every government scheme available, they would still need to be

earning more than €70,000 a year. This is far beyond the reach of most

young adults starting out in careers.

The 135 affordable purchase homes delivered in Cork city last year

represent another avenue for those who cannot afford to pay current

house prices. Unfortunately, the government have set a target of only

76 of these homes in Cork city every year.

The only thing that will see young people able to make the choice to

move out of their parents’ home is a change of government.

Fine Gael have had 12 years in government, with Fianna Fáil supporting

them in many of these. They have had their chance and they have failed

young people.

Young people need a government that prioritises building public homes

at scale. They need a government that recognises the housing emergency

this state is in and enacts an emergency response. Otherwise they are

faced with the prospect of a lifetime in the box-room while Fianna Fáil

claim to have turned yet another corner on housing.

'Horrendous situation' - Calls for homeless crisis to be addressed