Government Has Made Housing Crisis Worse - Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin has hit out at the Government for failing to deliver affordable homes saying they have made the housing crisis worse.

The party's spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD made the comments saying that new house prices are "out of control".

Mr Ó Broin said government policy must shift to bringing the price of new homes down. He stated that the Government must end policies that push up house prices and they must increase and accelerate the delivery of genuinely affordable homes by Local Authorities and AHBs, at prices that working people can genuinely afford.

Mr Ó Broin was responding to the latest Daft.ie house price report which shows that the average price of a new build home is €407k statewide and between €500k and €650k in Dublin.


In a statement, Teachta Ó Broin said: "The Daft.ie report on house prices in Q4 2023 shows that the price of an average home continues to rise. Across the state the price of an average home rose 3.4% in the last 12 months to €320k. In Dublin the average price of a home is now €433k.

"The report also highlights a worrying drop in the number of homes listed in December compared with the previous year, by a significant 27%.

"However the most startling facts in the report is the price of new build homes. There is now almost a 30% difference between the price of an average new home and overall average prices. Statewide the price of an average new home is €407k, €80k more expensive than the average for new and second-hand homes combined.

"In 21 counties the price of an average new build is over €300k. In the counties closest to Dublin new house prices are now above €400k. In Dublin the range is from just under €500k to €650k."

Mr Ó Broin has said the gap between new and second hand homes "is enormous and growing" due to "bad Government policy, demand side subsidies such as so called 'Help to Buy', and the controversial Shared Equity Loan scheme, all pushing up new house prices". He added that "the Government's failure to deliver on their embarrassingly low affordable purchase targets is making the crisis worse".