Social Democrats want to increase compulsory purchases of land in affordable housing plan

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

The compulsory purchase of land for affordable homes should be increased across the country, the Social Democrats have said.

The party says it would deliver 50,000 affordable homes and 25,000 cost-rental homes over five years.

The Social Democrats’ plan would see affordable three-bedroom homes sold for under €300,000 in Dublin and under €260,000 elsewhere.

The cost-rental homes would be at €1,200 per month in Dublin and €1,000 per month outside the capital.

The qualifying annual net household income for such homes would be €70,000 and €63,000 respectively.

The financial subsidy for affordable housing will average €1.7 billion per year, the party said.

Meanwhile, expenditure on loans from the Housing Finance Agency and other sources will average €4.2 billion per year. The Social Democrats said this would be repayable and thus financially neutral over the long term.

Cian O’Callaghan, deputy leader of the party, said high house prices are keeping people “stuck living in their childhood bedrooms”.

He said: “We can as a country afford to do this, we have the resources to do it. We also can’t afford not to do this.

“We are currently haemorrhaging people with skills that we need in a whole range of areas.”

The Social Democrats want to give the power to acquire land through compulsory purchase orders (CPO) for the construction of new affordable homes.

Asked where the land the party wants for such purchase orders is located, Mr O’Callaghan said: “That could be under anyone’s ownership.

“We’re an unusual country in that what we do is we let private individuals buy up land, get it rezoned, make a killing from speculating on that land and once they get the land rezoned, the value goes up hugely.”

He added: “So our system inflates the price of housing, it’s very, very costly, and we don’t think it can continue like that – so we do believe in strong CPO powers and land assembly.”

Mr O’Callaghan said it would focus on strategic areas, adding: “It wouldn’t be CPO’ing land far outside towns or cities.”

The party also wants to introduce new zoning for affordable housing, hire more planners and support the development of standardised housing to drive efficiency.

Mr O’Callaghan said the new zoning would ensure the homes are affordable for future generations.