Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence - Robert A. HeinleinDon't look for a conspiracy when simple lack of competence is a much more obvious explanation.
The first priority of any government is to stay in power and to win the next election. Younger people getting priced out of the housing market is a phenomenon in much of the developed world. It is part of the global shift of wealth from labour to capital.The predominant take in the media has long been that the government's priority is to increase supply of housing but that, almost uniquely among all governments in the developed world, it is too incompetent to do so. This interpretation doesn't make sense to me.
Prices of building and existing housing are in a sense arbitrary. You don't want boom and bust of course, but I think the policy tools are in place to make sure this doesn't happen again (Central Bank lending limits).The government's objective should be to bring down the cost of housing. A lot of its actions have the opposite effect, although that it not the intention.
We also have a systemically and structurally incompetent Civil Service
No Arguments there but when factory built house manufacturers in Ireland can sell their homes in the USA but can't sell them here because our regulations don't suit the product there's more to this than political incompetence.Hi Purple
I think that the Ministers are more to blame than the civil servants. They have tried to curb some of the Ministers' mad schemes over the years with varying degrees of success.
If the Minister says that he wants reckless lending and wants to call it "shared equity" , then the civil servants have to implement it. They probably advised against it but that is all that they can do.
Brendan
Why are that 75% of the population so keen on house price increases? What percentage are landlords? Do they not have relatives / friends who are unable to purchase due to high prices and limited availability? An increase is only really beneficial come sale time and how often do most people sell or downsize? Once or twice in a lifetime on average? And if you're trading up then the price of the new house will have risen also.Politics is a numbers game. 75% of population own their homes.
While the government may want to help the remaining 25% they're not going to do anything that effects their electoral base. They want to support the wealth of the core electorate. Including a sizable grey vote.
At the same time they want to give the remaining 25% the hope that they might also become property owners one day.
Hence why you end up with inflationary measures thinly veiled as affordability measures.
I certainly don't vote for them for that reason. I vote for them to keep the alternative out.I guess I can't get my head around home owners voting for FF / FG to keep house prices rising.
I guess I can't get my head around home owners voting for FF / FG to keep house prices rising.
Exactly. They are doing what the people want.I am not sure they are voting to keep house prices rising. They are voting for a staus quo that results in rising house prices, eg, no develeopment in our locality, no density, no redistribution of the tax burden from earned income to property, no CGT on the "family home".
Exactly. They are doing what the people want.
It's just that the people don't want the inevitable outcomes that result from the government doing what they want.
I guess I can't get my head around home owners voting for FF / FG to keep house prices rising.
Yep, that's about it. It comes down to damage limitation and, hopefully, the realisation that the permanent government are what really matters.Neither of my sprogs (both in their 30s) wants to own a house, as they much prefer the freeedom of renting. Nor do they want to foot the bill for the insane amounts of social housing being advocated by the parties of the left - because they realise that, ultimately, they'll be the ones stuck with funding such populist policies. Hence, they both find themselves (albeit reluctantly) voting for the same party as their parents do!
As far as Continental Europe is concerned this is true as regards buying property but not as regards renting. Even in very high-priced cities young low-paid workers can afford to rent a small apartment on their own due to a mix of rent-control and aggressive supply-side policies. Dublin-sized cities such as Lyon, Milan or Dusseldorf have thousands of medium-rise apartment blocks that provide hygienic, central and affordable accommodation for the masses. Young full-time workers being forced to emigrate or spend the rest of their lives sharing dingy houses with strangers is a specifically Irish phenomenon (and also a British one where the government has long been pursuing similar policies).Younger people getting priced out of the housing market is a phenomenon in much of the developed world.
As far as Continental Europe is concerned this is true as regards buying property but not as regards renting
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