Donegal TD Pearse Doherty has called on the government to scrap the Fianna Fáil developer scheme that he claims will push up house prices and invest instead in real affordable homes to rent and to buy.
The call comes ahead of a Sinn Féin private members debate in the Dáil this Wednesday.
Deputy Doherty will argue for the scrapping of Fianna Fáil’s developers’ scheme and for the funding to be used for the delivery of genuine affordable homes to rent and to buy instead.
He said: “The scheme Fianna Fáil want to introduce was written by property developers for property developers and closely mirrors a similar scheme in place in Britain.
“Evidence available on the British version of the scheme shows that it pushes up house prices and delivers homes where they are not needed.
“The Fianna Fáil plan will not make homes more affordable and it will saddle working people with too much debt. It will not help a generation that has been locked out of homeownership due to the rising cost of homes.”
He added that it is not just Sinn Féin that thinks that this scheme should be scrapped.
“A group of councillors from Fine Gael wrote to the Minister for Housing urging him to scrap the Shared Equity Loan scheme as it risked a ‘return to failed housing policies of the Celtic Tiger era’.
“The ESRI, the Central Bank, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers and the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform all have concerns that this plan may increase the price of homes.
“Sinn Féin has a fully costed plan that will deliver the genuinely affordable homes to rent and to buy that working people need.
“We cannot return to the same old Fianna Fáil developer-led policies of the past. People deserve better.”
Tags: