Three new developments in housing emerged this week - and not one of them is good news for anyone trying to buy a home
Figures from the banks show that the number of new mortgages approved for first-time and second-hand buyers and the amounts drawn down are both well down on the same time last year, partly due to the dire level of supply in the second-hand market. Photograph: iStock
Second, the crisis in the rental market rolls on, with rents up by more than 9 per cent year on year according to this week’sfigures. As in the second-hand market, we also see a crisis of supply, as landlords pull out and fewer new tenancies are registered. This market is stuck, too.confirmed that household size in Ireland remains one of the highest in the EU.
It is quite the backdrop for the general election debate on housing. And one issue is going to be central to the row. It is the two big supports for first-time buyers to help them financially –has said he wants to see the Help-to-Buy scheme, due to finish at the end of next year, extended for five years, in effect for the term of the next government. The Government sees it as an essential support to buyers.
At least from the buyers’ point of view Help-to Buy provides free cash, often used to fund a deposit. The First Home Scheme also helps to close the affordability gap, but at the price of the State taking a stake, often at an initial value of €100,000 plus. It is definitely not free cash. Buyers are often not considering the implications of having a State stake, the costs of servicing it in future and the price of buying it out, according to broker John Fahy of Pangea Mortgages.
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