Cork TD: We must find homes for young generation

RECENT Eurostat figures showing that 68% of young Irish adults, between the ages of 25 and 29, are still living in their parents’ home, painted a stark picture of the reality of this housing crisis.

Countries like Denmark, Sweden and Finland sit below 7%, the European Union average is 42%.

For many of the more than 500,000 adults recorded in the 2022 census as living with their parents, this is not a choice.

New rents registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in Cork are on average €1,109 in the county and €1,490 in the city - rising almost 9% annually.

Where a young person can pay these extreme rents, supply is so low that it is near impossible to find somewhere.

On the day I wrote this article, there were 43 properties to rent in Cork city on daft.ie. That is 43 properties for everyone - students to young professionals to families and to older people.

Many young people may have once lived outside of home. With evictions on the rise, it is inevitable that some who once had that independence will be forced back into their parents’ home.

In the second three months of this year alone, 720 families and individuals were given an eviction notice.

With no more than 120 properties to rent in Cork on any day, the conclusion must be drawn that many of these will not find a new rental property.

Without parents stepping in where the government have failed, homelessness in this state would skyrocket.

The eviction ban was put in place last winter. The government sat idly by for the duration of this ban and then cruelly lifted it.

They have still not implemented their promise that tenants would be given first refusal on their home, despite announcing this in March.

We need an eviction ban and we need a government to enact an emergency response for the duration of this ban.

This includes significant ramping up of the tenant in-situ scheme (which sees local authorities purchase homes of tenants who are on the social housing list and facing eviction), a three -year rent freeze, and an increase in the building of public homes.

When Sinn Féin points out the shocking figures in the private rental sector to government, we are pointed towards the Cost Rental scheme.

This in itself represents huge potential for solving issues in the rental sector, but delivery is nowhere near demand. In September, 2022, there were more than 900 applications for just 32 cost-rental units in Cork city. Of a national target for only 900 cost-rental homes last year, the government managed to build just 300.

The maths simply doesn’t add up to a credible solution for young people. We need to see real, ambitious investment in cost-rental. Investment alongside increased targets and real delivery.

When renting is not an option, the question arises: Why can’t young people purchase homes to move out of their parents’ home?

House prices, like private rent prices, are too high for many ordinary working people. Homeownership rates are falling consistently according to the CSO. Daft.ie’s latest report showed that the average home in Cork city now costs more than €320,000.

Yet, regularly we are hearing the Minister announce another new scheme. Many of these, like the first-refusal scheme, aren’t fully thought out and take months to implement. Others, such as Help to Buy, have been shown to increase house prices and only benefit those who don’t need them.

Further schemes, such as Croí Cónaithe (a grant of €30,000 for vacant and €50,000 for derelict property renovations), could have positive impacts but lack the funding and resourcing.

Many of the government’s schemes are only available to first-time buyers purchasing a new-build property.

On the day I wrote this article, six new build developments were advertised on Daft.ie in Cork city. The lowest price for one of these homes was €400,000. A person looking to purchase one of these homes would need to be earning €102,857.

With every government scheme available, they would still need to be earning more than €70,000 a year. This is far beyond the reach of most young adults starting out in careers.

The 135 affordable purchase homes delivered in Cork city last year represent another avenue for those who cannot afford to pay current house prices. Unfortunately, the government have set a target of only 76 of these homes in Cork city every year.

The only thing that will see young people able to make the choice to move out of their parents’ home is a change of government.

Fine Gael have had 12 years in government, with Fianna Fáil supporting them in many of these. They have had their chance and they have failed young people.

Young people need a government that prioritises building public homes at scale. They need a government that recognises the housing emergency this state is in and enacts an emergency response. Otherwise they are faced with the prospect of a lifetime in the box-room while Fianna Fáil claim to have turned yet another corner on housing.