House Hunter Queuing must be tackled by Minister & PRSA

Labour spokesperson on Community Affairs Cllr. Andrew Montague said it is unacceptable that people should have to consider waiting for days outside a new housing development in order to secure a place, and called on the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PRSA) and the Minister for Justice to address the return of this phenomenon.

Cllr Montague said:

“Due to the chronic shortage of affordable housing people were resorting to queuing outside a development in Hansfield, Dublin 15 that won’t go on sale until Friday, and where the prices aren’t even confirmed.

“While the selling agents have now issued numbered tickets to those in the queue, the practise of making people wait in line for days to secure a home is unacceptable.

“This recalls the worst excesses of the Celtic Tiger property boom, and is a well known tactic to drive up interest in developments by rationing access, and leads to increased prices for home owners.

“There is no reason why estate agents can’t use modern technology to solve this issue, instead of exploiting people’s dreams to drive publicity and prices. In the most recent example the prices of the houses for sale hadn’t even been confirmed which allows the agent to drive up demand and prices.

“The Property Services Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating the sale of housing by auctioneers and estate agents, and together with the Minister for Justice they should tackle this worrying phenomenon so that home buyers aren’t exploited.

“The failure of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to deliver affordable housing has been confirmed by the return of this practise, and the State must now take a more active role in the provision of housing to meet surging demand.”