16/06/2015

Sinn Féin Condemn Housing Standards Letter

A letter sent to Local Authorities by Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly, urging them not to introduce higher standards for housing has been condemned by Sinn Féin.

The party's housing spokesperson, Dessie Ellis, said that the letter showed a "worrying disregard" for the standards of housing being provided for people in need

"We are lucky in Dublin City that we have won hard fought standards for housing which ensure quality for homeowners and tenants. But we also are very aware that these standards are not always met by developers and that this can have devastating consequences in the longer term," Deputy Ellis said.

"We need more housing and fast but this is not the way to do it - it will only create more problems in the future. The government, if they were serious, could take a number of major steps to help deliver housing quickly. They could use 1 billion euro identified by Sinn Fein in the Strategic Investment Fund to build roughly 6000 social housing units, more then threes times what they will build in three years and twice what the private market built last year. They could also fast track procurement processes for local authority housing.

"Decent standards are not negotiable. Only more housing will solve the crisis we are in, but only housing which is good quality and will last, providing families with a real home."

(MH/CD)

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