Sinn Féin would put less money into long-term funds the Government says are vital for demographic change and climate action to pay for increased housing investment up front, the party has said.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald unveiled Sinn Féin’s €39 billion plan, called A Home of Your Own, in Dublin on Monday, promising 300,000 homes would be delivered across the five years of a Sinn Féin-led government.
Some €37 billion would be allocated for new build homes, with €2 billion for acquisitions, with about €7.8 billion for social and affordable homes annually, Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman, said.
Mr Doherty said this level of investment is €4 billion per year more than under the Government’s housing plans, arguing it would be irresponsible to put money into the funds while the housing crisis was so acute.
The Donegal TD said there would be no increase to the national debt, nor any need to raise taxes to fund the expenditure. “What is the only thing that is needed is political will and a plan, and that’s what Sinn Féin have.”
“I could not be part of a government that didn’t make the resources available, particularly at a time when we have resources,” Mr Doherty said, adding the resources were available to ensure there was no trade off needed to fund the investment.
The Government has committed to putting 0.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product into the Future Ireland Fund and a fund for Infrastructure, Climate and Nature, equating to €4.1 billion this year.
“They want to lock away billions of euro in terms of the future. I want to make sure that people’s future right here, right now is one that they can enjoy, that they can live in, and that they can actually end the turmoil and torment so many of those families are going through.”
Mr Doherty said he would not abolish the funds and agreed with them in principle, but he disputed the idea this money should be sunk into them “regardless of what is happening”.
“If I have a chance to serve as minister for finance, I will make those funds available to end this crisis once and for all,” he said, adding it was “absolutely” a fiscally responsible plan.
The publication of the plan sparked an immediate backlash from the Government, which said the plan would end State schemes that home buyers are reliant on and deliver affordable homes that buyers could never really own.
Sinn Féin has pledged to wind down the Help to Buy scheme, which it says is inflationary and has been criticised for driving up prices, and end immediately the shared-equity First Home scheme, under which the State takes an ownership stake in a portion of a property that can be bought out over time.
Instead, the party says it would recalibrate State investment to support builders earlier in the building process, overhaul planning systems, empower local authorities, reform the Land Development Agency and expand the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders.
It would also introduce an affordable housing scheme based on the State continuing to own the land a home is built on. Under this scheme, it says it can deliver affordable homes for between €250,000 and €300,000, with some conditions for buyers on the ongoing use and sale of the property.
Sinn Féin is also promising to introduce a stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers purchasing a home up to a value of €450,000. A three-year ban on rent increases is also envisaged.
Ms McDonald said the plan would deliver for aspiring homeowners and renters and would “ensure that our young people can build a successful future here at home”. Mr Doherty said that in the last year, average house prices had gone up by €25,000.
He said: “If this government is back in for another two years, average house prices on their track record will be €50,000 higher than they are now.”
Asked about controversy over the cost of tickets to the Oasis concerts to be held in Croke Park next year, Ms McDonald said it was “crazy” that permission would be given for concerts without any notification as to the cost of tickets. “It’s completely unfair, you enter into a lottery, nearly, in terms of getting your tickets rather than a straight transaction.”
“Whether it’s Oasis or Taylor Swift or the Wolfe Tones or the man in the moon who’s performing, the consumer should know what the price ranges are, that they’re fixed prices, and then everybody tries to get in first and get the tickets they want.”
“This dynamic pricing has to end, it needs to be dealt with,” she said.
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