Sinn Féin will deliver the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State – Matt Carthy
Sinn Féin General Election candidate for Cavan/Monaghan, Matt Carthy MEP, has said that his party, in government, “will deliver the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State” helping to take people off the local council’s housing list and supporting those who wish to purchase their own home.
He also confirmed that a Sinn Féin housing minister will reduce rents by up to €1,500 per year and introduce an emergency three year rent freeze to support private renters.
He said: “In 2016, Fine Gael launched their flagship housing policy ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ with the support of Fianna Fáil.
“They promised to fix our broken housing system, but instead they have made things worse, with rents and levels of homelessness spiralling ever higher. This is seen clearly in County Monaghan where there are now over 1,300 families on the council’s housing lists, most of which are waiting several years for a home.
“Renters in some parts of this county are paying up to 50% of their income on accommodation and in Carrickmacross, for example, rents are now between €900 to €1100 a month. How can anyone save for a mortgage with such exorbitant outgoings?
“An entire generation of young people in Monaghan and around the State are locked out of ever owning their own home.
“All of this is because of bad policies enacted for over three decades by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments. They under-invested in public housing. They over-relied on the private sector to meet social and affordable housing need and failed to protect renters from the volatility of the market. They saddled working people with unsustainable levels of debt.
“Sinn Féin wants to change all of that. We want to be in government to break with the failed policies of the past and implement a completely new approach to housing by committing to delivering the largest public housing building programme in the history of the State.
‘Over the lifetime of the next government we will:
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Deliver 100,000 public homes on public land; including 60,000 social homes, 30,000 affordable purchase homes and 10,000 affordable rental homes.
• Affordable purchase homes would be available at, and below €250,000.
• Affordable rental homes would be available at, and below €900 per month.
• Eligibility for affordable housing would be set at €50,000 for a single person and €75,000 for a couple.
“A Sinn Féin Minister for Housing would also take emergency action to address the rental crisis by reducing rents by up to €1,500 a year with a refundable tax credit, alongside introducing a three year freeze on all existing and new rents.
“This would be accompanied by increasing the stock of affordable rental accommodation and reducing the State’s reliance on subsidised private rental accommodation to meet social need.
“Our housing manifesto is fully costed and can be delivered without additional government borrowing, or additional taxes on workers earning less than €100,000 per year. This is the type of vision that Monaghan families and workers need and it is the vision that Sinn Féin will deliver in government, should voters place their trust in us on February 8th”.
ENDS
