Can Sinn Fein fix the housing crisis or is it beyond them or anybody else?

It's complex to "fix" and not something that can be done in just a few years. But you can absolutely count on populists like Sinn Fein to produce some lengthy manifesto that will promise to fix everything in the country, do everything under the sun and turn Ireland into an affordable housing paradise.

How exactly will they do this? Genuine question.

SF have lots to say but do very little

It shouldn't be allowed for large companies to be able to buy a rake of properties for future profit

Every prospective development must either be privately sold or allocated to social housing - it's ridiculous that some company can come along and buy up all the properties and then demand whatever rent they like

Ireland is fast becoming like America with the property market - houses should be built for people not for speculative profit

There is a problem if we return to large scale government build accommodation and its something not much talked about.

The policy around social housing being integrated with new housing development has reduced the size, scale and level of poorer areas in many places.

If the gov builds loads of social housing together its essentially building another ghetto for the want of another word.

What the current policy has done is essentially spread out the poor people in middle income areas and in the long term its better for society, that said it has down sides.

So i would be weary of a party policy advocating large scale social housing as a solution to the housing crisis because it can create another issue.

It's a perplexing mess whatever about the politics. SF often accused of saying much & doing nothing but some seem to forget they have not been the decision makers that have caused this shambles, over a decade in the making albeit I think it goes back much further.

We of course had the celtic tiger, the brutal crash and in reality a very slow recovery. It would seem to me the wrong types of developments have been proactively encouraged by FFG & no one can honestly deny a Rental model was being pushed.

We constantly hear about commencements & completions & yet an astonishing lack of availability to either purchase or Rent. Constant political nonsense about who's objecting etc.

At a very basic level (I'm no expert), we know there's not enough actual Housing, We know there is not enough accommodation, We know there's fewer than 800 Homes in the entire country available to rent & at current levels of commencents it would seem it will take 20 years to catch up with just a basic need for accommodation wether it be rental or for purchase.

There's now a quadruple whammy, Increased costs, Supply Chain issues, Staff shortages, Interest rate rises & serious uncertainty. I personally know of a number of projects we're contractors have stopped completely, stuck in fix priced contracts, knowing if they continue they'll be bankrupted , less painful to walk away now or stop than loose money. I see half finished one off developments dotted around the Midlands and no amount of FFG spin persuades me their plan, subsidises to large developers, tax incentives are or will work & besides it seems to me, all that's being built is investment developments for rental which ultimately no one but cuckoo funds will own, whilst Government will essentially rent or subsidise indefinitely through HAP or local authorities leasing for years on end, it's absolutely bonkers.

Home ownership will in essence be a dream for very, very few. The Irony of course being that before FF & FG merged they blamed each other, now they are FFG, they play nice but constantly throw subtle digs about years of lack of supply & poor policy, both are responsible for.

Here's another thought, few are thinking about, the Mica situation, I don't know the actual number likely needing full re build but let's be Conservative at 5K, who exactly is going to rebuild these properties, this on top of the defects in apartments, at the current rate it could a decade for some properties to be rebuilt & I'd wager the final bill will be far more than estimated, this problem on top of an already chronic housing crisis, I'm also intrigued as to were these people will live during re build or repair.

So, In reality whomever takes over this absolute mess has to unravel decades of ineptitude and bad policy. It won't be a quick fix by any means and regardless of folks political beliefs some serious root & branch overhaul in approach and some unpalatable decisions will be needed, we can no longer deny there's a serious and growing problem beginning with a basic accomodation need, let alone developments for purchase by aspiring home ownership. SF can do no worse than FFG but it not going to be easy or quick.

I'll leave this with a quick story shared on Twitter yesterday that got enormous reaction a painfully true story on the Day the remarkable Brother Kevin retires from the Capuchin Centre.

It's the story of a well known person meeting a 79 year old lady on a street in Dublin, a lovely lady well known in the area, always joyful, happy. Asked how she was, the lady said I'm fine, but I am just a little worried about it raining as she had to be out of her homeless, hostel accommodation during the day.

This is Ireland Folks in 2022 😞

They will in their hoop. They'll end up spending a fortune propping up the end of society who only absorb money and contribute nothing thereby cementing and expanding their base whilst the rest of us mugs pay for it. SF have promised everything bar delivering nuclear fusion and half the country as usual is lapping it up. FG and FF haven't been great by any stretch but god help us when this shower of spoofers get into power.

Its a complete mess TBH and i dont know how it can be fixed. Building costs and labour shortages are now the major problem for anyone looking at building property.

How would i fix it.

I would legislate to get non paying tenants evicted in a timely manner and make them liable for outstanding unpaid rent. For people who genuinely have hit hard times like losing their job a simplified system to get rent assistance would also need to be looked at so they can stay in their home wiith this payment going directly to landlord.

There also needs to be a fines system for tenants and landlords. This would like road traffic offences. Landlords who fail to keep their properties upto a certain standard and for tenants who do damage to property beyong wear and tear.

Legislation should also be introduced for longer leases possibly upto 10 years with one rent review after 5 years. This would give the tenant and landlord greater certainty. Also if the landlord wishes to sell the tenant would not be affected. Tax incentives would be needed for this for both parties.

We so need to build affordable homes and social housing. As i said costs and labour shortages are our biggest issues for this and then how do we pay for it. I suggest we tax Cuckoo funds to pay for this. There should be a standard tax rate of maybe 30% for them with no loopholes.

This and also stop the nonsense of demonizing landlords. If we don't have landlords we will never sort the rental crisis.

Their plan seems to be rearranging deck chairs rather than tackling issues like planning (while actively objecting to new builds, so it'll end up as a stalemate again).

The current government spend way too much time messing with taxes and grants, SF seem hell bent on doing the same, they may get in to solve it, but will ultimately be unsuccessful.

They could however end up getting a bounce from the existing supply coming online, depending on when elections occur, and then trying to take credit for it.

Bringing developers etc. back into state control will be a disaster.

Jaysus, if they only ensure regulations are adhered to and that flagrant breaches are properly sanctioned, it would be a major start on the road to change in this country.

Give us all a shout when that tired old cliched nonsense begins to work Mike.

Seen the latest scandal of a FF ministerial incumbent's activity? And the FG/FF/Gr wagons being circled to protect him?

As a USP, it seems to be working. Tough for you guys to accept I know.

Maybe the tired old mantra emanating back should change before it's too late? It's clearly falling on deaf ears.

No, there is no 'government' in the north. The 'government' sits in Westminster and devolves some powers to an Executive that is run in an entirely different way to here.

This isn't that hard to grasp, it's been that way for quite some time.

And yes, it could be worse. The problem for the power swap is that they have created the circumstances were the electorate look like they want SF in government.

Sure, but that's not the touted plan (are SF bringing in more regulators? I know they supported the government bill on the construction industry register, but it's only effective if there is people to enforce it rather than after the fact).

How much did the house cost compared to your wage and how much is a comparable house going for nowadays?