Housing Crisis - renting in Ireland

joseph
Fri, 31 Jul 1998 23:00:00 +0000
Gentrification, Property speculation, Rent, Housing, National, Newspaper, Analysis, Chekov Feeney

Housing is one of people's most basic needs. Yet it is a need that the 26 county state [1] has consistently failed to supply to a significant number of its people. It seems that the Irish housing crisis is permanent, becoming more severe from time to time, but never disappearing. Despite the Celtic Tiger economy and the building boom, waiting lists for social housing continue to lengthen. Over 37,000 people are currently waiting. Are we to believe that this lack of housing is inevitable, that it is impossible to build houses quickly enough to satisfy the demand?