House prices soar while Government ducks responsibility
House prices soar while Government ducks responsibility - The Labour Party
Labour’s housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD said the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the housing crisis is continuing to move in the wrong direction. He said the national Residential Property Price Index published today reveals further house price increases. He said that with its new plan, Government has chosen to remove accountability, abandon annual targets and leave people waiting even longer for answers. He said the plan will continue to drive up house prices and worsen shortages. He called for a full reset and a credible strategy to meet real demand.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“In a shock to absolutely no one, house prices are climbing once again. The CSO has confirmed that prices rose by 7.6 per cent in the twelve months to September 2025. Instead of easing, the pressure on ordinary buyers is tightening. Dublin prices rose by 5.3 per cent over the year and prices outside Dublin increased by 9.4 per cent compared with September 2024. That is the reality facing workers and families who are already priced out of the market.
“Yet last week, Government published its housing plan that offers absolutely nothing new. It removes accountability. It pushes solutions even further into the distance. Worse still, by failing to set out credible targets and by weakening the very tools required to judge progress, the Government has designed a plan that will drive prices even higher.
“On top of that, Government has doubled down on all the inflationary measures that have pushed house prices up in the first place. Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme have already added fuel to the fire, yet Government has now cynically rebranded them as so called “starter homes”. These schemes have driven up prices and they will continue to drive up prices. No amount of rebranding changes the reality that they inflate demand without matching supply.
“These new CSO figures should be a wake up call. They highlight the scale of the gap between what is needed and what is being delivered. Every quarter we see more upward pressure on prices. Every month we see the consequences of years of missed opportunities in the publishing of the homeless figures. Instead of recognising this, the Government has doubled down on an approach that has failed and an outlook that lacks ambition.
“People deserve a plan that meets the real needs of the country. They deserve a Government that takes responsibility rather than running from it. They deserve housing policy that matches the scale of the crisis we are in. Today’s figures prove that the status quo is not working.
“Government must stop ignoring the evidence and start delivering the homes people need. We need a plan with ambition, clear annual targets and real accountability. That is the only way to reverse this trend and truly tackle the housing disaster.”