How Ireland’s housing crisis is part of a global problem
Lack of affordable housing is a global problem that only seems to be getting worse
Auctioneers’ signs in Sandycove, Co Dublin. The four-decade long boom in house prices – apart from the short-lived decline after 2008 – coincides with a period of historically low interest rates. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
It’s tempting to view the perennial calamity that is housing in Ireland as unique. Half a century of lousy, at times corrupt, planning has left us with a countryside full of one-off housing and cities full of low-density developments.
This makes the roll-out of infrastructure – health, transport, water and broadband – complicated and costly. Hence we have congested roads and transport systems, overburdened health services and a standard of living that belies our income.