Flood of Shared Living & Student Accommodation is removing real homes from Dublin

Labour Senator Kevin Humphreys has said the increasing number of shared or co-living developments is removing real homes from Dublin, will be no solution to the housing crisis, but a fig leaf to allow speculators exploit the housing crisis.

Sen. Humphreys said:

“We have a housing crisis in Dublin with not enough public, social and affordable housing being built. The solution pursued by Fine Gael has been to relax building standards and enable the development of thousands of student accommodations units, and new co-living complexes that are simply unacceptable as modern homes.

“These developments are about profit maximisation and the financialisation of housing. There is no requirement to provide part V social housing with these developments so developers are using them to side step the law. Hotel style accommodation is not a solution.

“The shocking development proposed in Dun Laoghaire is an example of how real homes are being lost. The site already has permission for 59 apartments, but now the developer wants to squeeze in 200 bed spaces with a new proposal to An Bord Pleanála. These will be the bed sits of the future.

“Fine Gael has torn up the rule book in favour of speculators and developers. The Minister for Housing was this morning defending his choices, but it is future generations who will pay the price.

“Across Dublin, Labour candidates are hearing about the impact these policies are having on local communities because developers are exploiting the housing crisis to build cheap and small bedsit type accommodation rather than sustainable housing and apartments.”