RTE interview with James Browne, Minister for housing (21 Oct)

[patfert1]

Astonishing statements by James Browne, Minister for Housing, commented on in yesterday's IT.

Original interview, 21 Oct, 9 minutes, on the topic of phasing out turnkey purchases for social housing. Worth a listen. The presenter didn't go easy on the minister.

Minister for Housing on social housing strategy

Minister for Housing, James Browne on the decision to phase out turnkey purchases for social housing.

www.rte.ie

IT article, 2 Nov, subscriber only, a few quotes below.

Minister’s refusal to answer questions on house prices reveals confused state of housing policy

James Browne said people shouldn’t get ‘hung up on a little thing about whether house prices increase or decrease’

www.irishtimes.com

During the interview the Minister was asked four times by presenter Gavin Jennings whether house prices would come down or whether he wanted them to come down. He refused to answer, instead saying that people shouldn’t get “hung up on a little thing about whether house prices increase or decrease”. Central Statistics Office data show house prices nationally “have increased by 182 per cent” since 2013.

When asked about housing output targets for this year, Browne said he didn’t “believe in targets”. Asked about expectations for housing completions this year, he said he didn’t “have a forecast for this year. I don’t believe in forecasts”.

It is worth noting that the Irish government’s housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities (2025–2030), sets a target of 300,000 new home completions by the end of 2030. Despite this, the minister believes in frameworks and "scaling up", not targets or forecasts.

The IT article concludes:

Perhaps the toughest question presenter Jennings could ask a housing minister is to describe their understanding of what a functioning housing system actually looks like.

 

[patfert1]

Asked about expectations for housing completions this year, he said he didn’t “have a forecast for this year. I don’t believe in forecasts”.

I would respectfully argue that at the end of October, it is not a matter of forecasts anymore. The minister must by now have a reliable estimate for the number of new builds that will be completed in 2026. If he is not revealing it, then there is a reason.

 

[JoeRoberts]

The minister must by now have a reliable estimate for the number of new builds

Need to move away from measuring number of builds to number of beds. Apartment builds skew numbers.

 

[Premos]

Need to move away from measuring number of builds to number of beds

Why? Household are getting smaller.