Property prices in Ireland are “out of control”, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has said amid reports that prices are set to rise even higher in 2022.
Last year house prices rose 7.7% nationwide - with the average Irish home costing €290,998. Now, The Sunday Times’ Dublin Property Price Index has predicted that prices in the capital will soar by a further 5.8% this year.
“House prices are out of control,” Deputy Murphy told Newstalk.
“They have been out of control, they’re out of reach for the vast majority of people with ordinary, even somewhat well-paying jobs.
“And this is one aspect of the housing crisis which sees now over half a million young people effectively stuck in their family home when they’d prefer to be out and either renting or buying somewhere.”
The cost of renting increased in 2021 as well; despite the introduction of rent pressure zones across much of the country, the price of rent rose by an average of 8.3%. In Dublin renting now costs an average of €1,397 per month – up €44 on the figures in 2020.
Lockdown has cast a long shadow over the property market and family homes with gardens are particularly popular; the cost of three bedroom homes in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh has now soared above one million euros and one estate agent in the capital says they sometimes receive bids from between 20 and 25 people per home.
Construction on a new home takes place. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ieState construction company
Deputy Murphy believes one way for the state to tackle the crisis is to set up its own construction company:
“The whole housing crisis is completely interconnected,” Deputy Murphy continued.
“And its root is a system that is based on prioritising the profit of developers, of the big construction companies and of landlords.
“So we need a housing policy that is as rooted in providing people with the right to a home.”
Main image: An aerial view of Dublin houses near Croke Park . Photo: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie.
