Proposal Launched For Multi-Income Public Housing

The Workers' Party has launched a costed proposal for multi-income public housing in Ireland.

'Solidarity Housing: Getting the vultures out of Irish Housing' aims to address three issues: the current high costs to the state of public housing provision, the high costs of market rents which are placing an unsustainable burden on many households, and the social segregation and marginalisation which characterise many public housing developments.

Introducing the document, the party's representative Councillor Eilis Ryan said: "Solidarity Housing envisages that, within any given development, the state would rent 50% of homes to households who currently qualify for social housing and the rest to those who are not currently eligible for social housing.

"Rent for all households would be calculated as 15% of income up to €35,000, plus 30% of income above €35,000. A household with an income of €50,000 would pay a monthly rent of around €870 – significantly less than the current average market rent of €1,500 for a three-bedroom home in Dublin."

Fr Peter McVerry said: "I welcome this document as an important contribution to our thinking on the most critical issue for Ireland today, namely housing and homelessness.

"The only way to ensure security of tenure and affordable accommodation for low income families and those who are homeless is through social housing, that is housing that is under the control of the local authorities.

"The private rented sector does not qualify as secure housing. We need to return to the previous decades of large scale housing built by and for the local authorities, if we are to give everyone the right to a home."

(CD)