Madam, - Now that the Central Bank is investigating financial institutions' observance of the lending rules for mortgages, perhaps they might address the affordability of houses especially in the Greater Dublin area.
Between 1994 and 2001 the price of an average new three-bedroom home in Dublin went up by 197 per cent.
A home that would have cost €81,000 in 1994 cost €243,000 in 2001.
With wage rises during that time largely governed by national agreements, the average rate of wage increase for the period works out at about 35 per cent. It is clear that workers are being forced out of their own city.
I would ask the Central Bank to support our claim for the introduction of a certificate of reasonable value in the private housing sector and Government controls on the price of building land, which is the main factor behind that 197 per cent increase. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN DUNNE, The Unaffordable Housing Campaign, Workers' Party, Hill Street, Dublin 1.