Construction BUSINESS

The current housing market is failing our younger generations, according to Ella Dunphy (pictured) of DNG, who recently became the first woman President of IPAV, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers. She was speaking at the organisation’s AGM and annual conference at the Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny.

“It’s a market where those with the greatest financial resources have choice but those at middle and lower levels of income have little, and in some cases none at all,” she said. “What was once the ‘normal’ house buying populace, those in their 20s and 30s, are scattered between living with parents, ever growing commutes, or involuntarily having to pay rents that in most cases exceed the price of mortgage repayments.”

Ironically, she said, this massive problem has all decision makers agreed that the solution is a major increase in the supply of new homes.

“We need to ask why our system seems incapable of answering that call to action, why it is failing our young people so badly,” she said. “Why it insists on dealing with the symptoms of the problem and driving private landlords in their droves from the rental market.”

Ms Dunphy said increasing the supply of properties and doing so rapidly is the only solution to the problem, “the only one that can create stability and prevent a future house price crash, and all the financial loss and psychological trauma that that would entail.”

She said the Government’s recent Rebuilding Ireland Review of Delivery Costs and Viability for Affordable Residential Developments, identifies late in the day, some of the key issues the industry has known about for a number of years and has been pleading with decision-makers to address.

The report states: ‘access to and the cost of finance for residential schemes remains a significant challenge, and is a substantial factor in development costs.’  It further states: ‘market lenders are generally supportive of a limited number of strong “bankable” developers and builders, which has the effect of limiting the number of housing providers with delivery capability at scale.’

“We have made numerous submissions over several years to Government identifying the lack of availability of loans to SME builders and developers and recommending the provision of low costs loans,” she pointed out. “The question is when are we going to get such delivered?  When is the €750 million loan scheme announced in last October’s Budget going to be delivered,” she asked.

From Kilkenny, Ms Dunphy is the first woman President of IPAV in the organisation’s 50 year history. Following an earlier career in banking she graduated in property from Waterford Institute of Technology before setting up her own business in 2003. Her priorities will include overseeing IPAV’s rapidly expanding education programmes.