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Housing Minister James Browne has said he does not really have “much of a role” in reducing housing demand, arguing that solving Ireland’s housing crisis is ultimately “all about supply.”
Speaking to Gript outside Government Buildings ahead of this week’s Cabinet meeting, the Fianna Fáil Minister was asked whether the Government should be considering measures to curb housing demand as part of its response to the housing crisis. Browne replied that responsibility for that issue largely lay elsewhere, while pointing to recent changes introduced by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan in the area of migration.
Asked whether there was anything the Government could do on the demand side, Browne said demand itself was not his responsibility.
“Well, look, it’s my job to deal with the demand,” he said.
“And I don’t really have much of a role in that respect.
“…But, as I say, an awful lot of migrants in this country – all the migrants in this country – are contributing to our society and that is important.”
Earlier in the exchange, Browne was asked when Government housing measures introduced over the past year were likely to translate into homes becoming more affordable, particularly for younger people seeking to buy.
The Minister said there were already signs that Government policies were having an effect, although he acknowledged further progress was needed.
“Well, I think in terms of delivery, we are already seeing the impact,” he said.
“We just saw over 36,000 homes delivered last year. We delivered the highest number of social homes in the history of the State last year as well.
“We’re now seeing a significant drawdown this year in terms of first-time mortgage drawdowns. We are also seeing commencement up. We are seeing planning permissions up as well.
“But, we obviously want to accelerate that and we need to accelerate it to see house prices moderate. We are seeing some evidence of moderation as well, already, especially in the second-hand market in Dublin, but it’s not enough for it to be a trend. So, we’re carefully monitoring the situation over the coming months.”
Browne was also asked why house prices had remained high despite the range of measures introduced by Government.
He argued that the principal issue remained a shortage of housing supply alongside sustained population growth.
“Well, look, it is all about supply,” Browne said.
“There’s no question. Whether it’s addressing the housing crisis, the homeless crisis, the high cost of rents in this country, it is a shortage of supply.
“You have a very significant demand. We’ve seen a very significant increase in our population. About 810,000 people since 2014, which is about equivalent of about a quarter of a million houses, which is about what we built in that period of time as well.”
After Gript noted that much of the population increase had come through migration, Browne said Ireland had experienced both returning Irish citizens and inward migration.
“We had to provide homes for those people,” he said.
“A lot of them are Irish people returning. What you also do have migrants, but migrants working in our tech sector, which is keeping our economy going, migrants moving in into our healthcare sector, which are keeping our hospitals open and caring for our elderly as well.
“But, it’s my job to ensure that we have enough homes to for people who are living in this country…to be able to live in. We are going in the right direction. We are seeing…a shift change in terms of housing delivery, but we need to accelerate it.”
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