Don’t be fooled by Sinn Féin’s Housing Bill – Bruton

People seeking to buy or rent a home should not be fooled by Sinn Féin’s Housing Bill, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Richard Bruton, Fine Gael Party Chair, was speaking ahead of the Dáil reading of the legislation today (Tuesday).

Deputy Bruton said: “As with a lot of Sinn Féin’s populist initiatives, this Bill sounds attractive at a superficial reading. They will no doubt present it as legislation designed to stop the Government interfering in local planning, and to help first time buyers. But don’t be fooled.

“Removing the opportunity for national housing policy to influence what gets developed locally, means that the housing crisis is expected to be solved with one arm tied behind our back. The consequences of the bill are entirely perverse; they are:

1. Stopping government from influencing the type of developments built,
2. Preventing the emergence of professionally designed and managed rental property to meet emerging needs, particularly for older people seeking to downsize,
3. Hampering the delivery of supply to a growing number of people who choose to rent,
4. Preventing the emergence of a stable private rented sector which in other countries is characterised by long-term investors like pension funds providing the long-term funds,
5. Playing to poorly thought out prejudice against housing solutions which can better match property solutions to changing needs and locking in patterns of poor use of available housing to the detriment of delivering other important needs in our community which a progressive public/ private partnership could create.

“This Bill is designed to gain maximum attention for Sinn Féin’s populist policies but don’t be fooled. It will actually aggravate our issues and will halt the progress we are making in the provision of housing to suit the needs of everyone in the population.” concluded Deputy Bruton.