Are houses only for the wealthy?

                                                                                                   By Margaret O’Neill

We have Ground force, Changing Rooms and a plethora of other programmes designed to offer advice aplenty on how we can update, maintain and generally increase the value/desirability of our homes. Likewise the shelves in the newsagent are laden with at least one rain forest of print advising on similar matters. Whilst this in itself is no bad thing, however tedious to the uninterested, it is symptomatic of current society trends. Every dinner table or gathering when not discussing the traffic conditions or Roy Keane holds forth ad nauseam on the current housing market and in particular just how much their own particular little nest is now worth. An outside spectator may be forgiven for thinking the only housing problem experienced in this country was which particular shade was ‘so today’. Unfortunately this is not reality in the south of Ireland but as the nation becomes increasingly affluent homelessness is a problem that that there is no political will to address.

Frankly it appears from the spate of tribunals that the will is not what is in question rather there are neither votes nor money to be reaped from that particular constituency. The homeless do not give £50,000 to intermediaries for Ray Burke, nor does the homeless build £85,000 extensions for Michael Lowry. In keeping with the much vaunted Fianna Fáil interest in the development sector Charlie Mc Creevy in Budget 2002 restored interest relief on investor’s mortgages and at the same time revealed an initiative to reduce the current rate of stamp duty. Expert analysis in the April issue of Magill had this to say regarding Mc Creevy’s assistance to the already affluent; ‘this encouraged investors to purchase properties, and also helped those home owners looking to buy a second property while holding on to their own house’.

Meanwhile the same lobby ensured that a vicious piece of legislation regarding the Law of Trespass was rushed through the Dáil last March. This unsavoury law targeted in particular the Travellers. Clearly the housing policy priorities of the last and indeed the incoming government do not give precedence to the socially disadvantaged in need of safe and good quality housing.

The above reflects reality on the ground yet in the week that the southern electorate went to the polls the finding of a recent survey conducted by the Simon Community was published. The survey found that a majority of 58% believe that a referendum on the right to housing should be held. Furthermore 71% said that they would vote yes if such a referendum were held. The UN committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recently criticised Ireland for its failure to guarantee the right to housing in law pointing out that citizens in other European countries had these rights by law. However when the major political parties were sounded out on the same issue in keeping with their previous record, Fianna Fáil was the only major political party to oppose this socio-economic right being written into the constitution. This fact was further exacerbated by the fact that the only party to disagree with this is the party of government. The Simon Community has been critical of the government for failing to tackle the current housing problems, which sees 5,234 homeless people living in Ireland a figure that is expected to increase when new data is released at the end of June 2002. Likewise there are currently (to be supplied) of families living under unsuitable, unsanitary or crowded conditions and waiting to be housed by their Local Authorities. The Simon community further contends that Ireland does have the resources to adequately house her population and claim that the space and finance allotted to the much-vaunted ‘Bertie Bowl’ could provide housing for 10,000 homeless.

The Irish people, certainly those investors and developers, do not care about the homeless, otherwise they would not have voted back in office for another term the only party callous enough to deny that a home to return to every night is a basic human right. Meanwhile Fianna Fáil and their partners in government will continue to accommodate developers who in turn may as the did in the past pay more than lip service to the party who champions their nefarious dealings.