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Sinn Féin has said that within the first year of forming a government, they would hold a referendum to insert a right to housing into the Irish Constitution, which would place a “legal obligation” on the Government to provide people with houses.
This announcement was made as part of the party’s new housing plan, entitled “A Home Of Your Own: Sinn Féin’s Plan To Make Housing Affordable”, which was launched in Dublin today.
“Sinn Féin believes that having a home of your own is a fundamental human right,” the plan reads.
“It is our view that such a right, subject to approval by the people, should be enshrined into the Constitution.”
They add that this Constitutional amendment would “clarify the balance of rights in the constitution with respect to property rights and the right to a home.”
“It would place a legal obligation on Government to vindicate the right over time through legislation, policy implementation, and budgetary funding,” the party continued, adding: “…It would provide those most excluded from the housing system with a legally enforceable right.”
The party said that this referendum would be held within the first year of forming a government.
“Following consultation with the Oireachtas, the Housing Commission and others, Sinn Féin would publish draft legislation, which following pre-legislative scrutiny, would be put to the people within 12 months of Government formation,” they said.
Notably, this same proposed referendum features in the current Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party Programme for Government, which commits the government to holding a “referendum on housing” – an idea which has previously been endorsed by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
Sinn Féin went on to stress that housing is their “number one priority.”
“Meeting society’s housing need requires ambition, determination, and political will,” they continued.
“It also requires change. Change to the Constitution, to the State’s laws, and to Government’s policies and budgets. Sinn Féin is committed to driving this change to ensure that everyone person and every family has a secure, adequate, and affordable home of their own. We are committed to making housing affordable and bringing home ownership within reach for working people.”
The party also emphasised the need to build climate-friendly properties, saying that construction and infrastructure is “the fourth largest source of carbon emissions and a major contributor to climate change.”
“To date much of the public debate has focused on the energy efficiency of and energy sources for buildings,” they said.
“There is now a need to place as much focus on reducing the volume of embodied carbon in the built environment. This means addressing the carbon emissions arising from what we build, where we built it and the materials used in construction.”
They said that this can be achieved in a variety of ways, including the renovation and reuse of existing buildings and existing building materials; “positively incentivising” a shift to low carbon building technologies; phasing out the use of high carbon building materials “to the maximum extent possible”; and promoting compact residential growth and proximity to employment, services and amenities in cities.
“In Government Sinn Féin will undertake a consultation with all relevant stakeholders and produce a 10-year plan providing a pathway to the delivery of low carbon homes,” they added.
The 100-page document also promises to invest an average of €7.8 billion every year on social and affordable homes in order to deliver 125,000 such homes in five years.
Notably, in 2022, the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party coalition Government allocated €4 billion for social and affordable housing – though €1 billion of this was not ultimately spent.
The Sinn Féin plan would also seek to help deliver 115,000 private homes for purchase, and 60,000 more for rental and self-build properties. This, they say, would be achieved through low-cost loans for developers, quicker planning decisions, and significantly more autonomy for local authorities in planning decisions.
However, the government has slammed the plan, with Fianna Fáil Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien saying it would bring uncertainty to the housing sector, threaten jobs, and ultimately set housing construction timelines back.
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