Sir, – David McWilliams regrets that planning has been delayed on a build to rent scheme in Dún Laoghaire (“The next government should embark on a sort of ‘mine-sweeping exercise to radically reduce impediments to building homes”, Opinion, Weekend, August 24th). “We are in the middle of a housing crisis that can only be fixed by more homes”. So far, so sensible.
I’m writing from the Liberties and your columnist will be pleased to hear that when it came to build to rent and luxury student accommodation there has been no shortage of supply, supply, supply. It now costs over €1,800 per month to rent a studio apartment for students in the Liberties. A recently launched build to rent scheme where a one-bedroom flat will set you back €2,500 per month and a two-bedroom €3,400. I would argue the majority of people could live without a curated kitchen (your guess is as good as mine), and a hair centre for dogs.
I’m not convinced many of our young people want to live like middle-aged travelling salespeople in a hotel-styled room, locked up in a gated community, even if they could afford it.
We have one of the highest numbers of homeless emergency accommodation places in Dublin 8. We see the misery associated with this play out on our streets every day.
If planning in the Liberties is to be used as a barometer, we will be waiting a very long time before anything becomes affordable – but, as we are learning, perhaps scarcity of supply is the point.
Still waiting on that economic trickle-down effect. – Yours, etc,
ABAIGEAL MEEK,
The Liberties,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – I agree with David McWilliams that we must fix supply for infrastructure. But, if his sole focus is on “objection”, he is blaming the messenger, not the facts. Supply is controlled by the suppliers, not anybody else. They will not increase their output so as to reduce their profit. The only people to benefit from “skyrocketing prices” are the suppliers of housing, nobody else.
As he states, the minority of judicial review cases relate to large residential projects, delaying decisions on some 15,000 units of housing, over a number of years, most of which stemmed from the discredited strategic housing development (SHD) system and which contravened agreed development plans. Even if all of these were to be permitted, their numbers are a small proportion of the more than 100,000 homes that have planning permission, but are not being built by the suppliers.
It is also very small in comparison to either Government targets in Housing for All of some 35,000 per year, or the revised numbers produced by the Housing Commission of around 50,000 per year.
All around Dublin city and county are sites with planning permission for vast quantities of housing, lying idle and unbuilt.
If we just scapegoat the “objectors”, whose power is actually very limited, we will never address the core issue of the supply of infrastructure, including housing.
The power to solve these issues lies elsewhere. – Yours, etc,
ROBIN MANDAL,
Chair,
Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.