Locked-out generation left behind as Government abandons annual housing targets
Locked-out generation left behind as Government abandons annual housing targets - The Labour Party
- New housing plan offers “too little, too late” for struggling families
Labour’s Housing Spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD said in the Dáil today that the Government’s long-delayed housing plan offers too little for people who urgently need secure and affordable homes. Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, Deputy Sheehan said this Government has set out targets that are too low, removed the annual benchmarks needed to measure progress, and failed to provide any credible pathway for renters or for a generation locked out of home ownership. Labour is calling for a major ramp-up of State-led delivery of social and affordable housing, clear annual targets, and a plan grounded in the real needs of people, not public relations priorities.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“Families are struggling in every part of this country because they cannot secure a home they can afford. Renters are being pushed further into insecurity. Young people who want to own a home are being told to wait, again, while prices continue to rise. This new housing plan does little to change any of that. It sets out overall figures but strips away annual targets for the private sector. This Government has removed the very tools needed to measure progress. When you remove measurement, you remove accountability.
“The section on affordable ownership offers nothing new. Instead of fresh measures to reduce prices, the plan simply wraps the existing schemes into what is described as a Starter Homes Programme. That is a branding exercise, not a housing solution. Demand is not the problem. Supply is. Without a major increase in State-built affordable homes, people will remain locked out.
“On social housing, the proposed 12,000 units fall short of what is needed. Labour has consistently called for at least 15,000 new social homes each year, in line with the Housing Commission’s analysis. Yet this Government has chosen to ignore that evidence. Construction activity is already falling month on month. Developers are slowing delivery because they know this Government has left itself dependent on them, even as the market fails to meet need.
“The Government points to an expanded role for the Land Development Agency, but the additional funding set out is limited and there is no clarity on the powers it will receive. Again, the detail does not match the scale of the problem. What is required is a major expansion of direct State capacity to build social and affordable homes, not more reliance on developers who have already shown the limits of their model.
“The Tanaiste’s reply today was deeply disappointing. He missed the point entirely. He failed to grasp the reality of what people are living through and did not address any of the questions asked. People my age were told to hang in there. That is not a plan. It is an admission that this Government has run out of ideas.
“There are measures in this plan that Labour has long supported. In 2017, Jan O’Sullivan proposed amending the law to require local authorities to consider the best interests of children when a family becomes homeless. That commitment appears again today, though it has been delayed for years. Labour also proposed a rent register in 2016, and while the plan now gestures toward it, the delay has caused real harm to renters. Labour is calling for clear annual targets, a major programme of direct State building, and practical measures that reduce prices and expand supply. Families deserve better. This Government must act now.”