The government is trying to solve the housing crisis by incentivising more building. This is the most expensive and ineffective route.

There are potentially many vacant houses and apartments throughout the country, including in Dublin city. They can be vacant for many reasons; including dilapidation and bad location. And including investors leaving them empty in large numbers, in order to create a shortage, to push up the prices of their other properties.

First, the government must find the vacant housing, by comparing the list of domiciles on the Property Registry with people’s addresses from the PPS registry. It must tax the owners of vacant properties, forcing the owners to ulitise, develop or sell them.

Then the government must prevent investment funds from owning residential property. It has been proposed to increase the tax rental businesses pay, but it is too late for that now. Only a total ban on businesses (non-people) from property ownership will suffice, to free up the amount of housing needed today for new home-owners and private landlords. Exceptions like universities, housing cooperatives and doctors’ offices can apply for a licence to own housing.

If those measures are not enough, there is more that must be done before resorting to large scale building. A policy of gradually lowering the mortgage term limit (currently 35 years) is needed to keep house prices stable. It reduces the amount people can borrow, which reduces house prices proportionately. This makes housing a bad investment (unless you plan to live in the house) and a very bad investment if you plan to leave the house empty. This an extension of the existing macroprudential policy advocated by the central bank.

Planning regulation changes are needed too. Building offices in cities with housing shortages must only be permitted alongside the construction of a greater number of housing units. Building housing in an area with few jobs must only be permitted alongside the construction of employers like offices and retail. This not only ensures housing is built where it is needed, and reduces prices in pressure areas. It also reduces commuting distances and road traffic, and the need for new public transport infrastructure.

As things stand, more construction is not an effective way to resolve the housing crisis. The above structural problems must be solved first.

These new estates now being built are simply creating problems for tomorrow. They are consuming Ireland’s countryside and vital arable land. They are creating transportation and social problems due to their isolation from the towns. The big build policy only serves the desires of developers, not the people.