House prices surge as Government fails on affordable housing targets – Sheehan
House prices surge as Government fails on affordable housing targets – Sheehan - The Labour Party
- House prices up 6.8% in 12 months to February
- Just 935 affordable purchase homes delivered in 2025
- Labour calls for urgent State-led building programme
Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD has today said the latest CSO figures showing house prices rising by 6.8% in the 12 months to February, alongside new Government data confirming just 935 affordable purchase homes were delivered in 2025, demonstrate a deepening housing crisis and a continued failure by Government to meet its own targets. Deputy Sheehan has called for the Land Development Agency to be transformed into a State Construction Company to directly deliver homes at scale.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“The latest CSO figures are absolutely damning. House prices have risen by 6.8% in the 12 months to February, further pushing home ownership out of reach for working people. At the very same time, the Government’s own figures show that just 935 affordable purchase homes were delivered in 2025, a fraction of the 2,100 target that was already far too low to begin with.
“Once again, we see the same pattern. Report after report confirms that every key housing indicator is moving in the wrong direction. Homeless figures continue to climb, rents remain at record highs, and now house prices are surging again. For workers, families and those on average incomes, the dream of owning a home is slipping further out of reach.
“How many expert reports does it take for this Government to admit what people already know? Affordability is completely out of reach for huge numbers of people. Instead of taking responsibility, the Government continues to stand over a system that benefits those with the deepest pockets while locking out ordinary workers.
“This is Economics 101. We have a supply crisis, pure and simple. Demand continues to outstrip supply, and the result is rising prices that shut people out. The figures published today show clearly that the Government has no credible plan to meet the scale of demand.
“More worryingly, the Land Development Agency delivered just 508 cost rental homes last year, out of a total of 2,347, under a target that was already insufficient. These figures show that the current model is not working and will not deliver the homes that people need.
“The reality is that we cannot solve this crisis without the State stepping up. Labour has been clear. We need to transform the Land Development Agency into a State Construction Company to directly deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale. We need to double the output of genuinely affordable housing and take control of delivery, rather than relying on a broken system that continues to fail.
“People deserve better than this. They deserve a plan that meets the real needs of the country. They deserve a Government that takes responsibility rather than running from it. Today’s figures prove beyond any doubt that the status quo is not working, and that tinkering around the edges will not fix this crisis.
“The Government must stop dragging its heels and start delivering. Establish a State Construction Company, ramp up public homebuilding, and ensure that affordable homes are available to those who need them. The time for excuses has long passed. We need action now.”