Laois TD says just eight new affordable homes on sale in Laois in 2023

A local TD said there were just eight affordable homes on sale in Laois last year.  

Deputy Brian Stanley says Sinn Féin’s Affordable Homes Plan will bring home ownership back into the reach of ordinary people in Laois/Offaly.

“There are a growing number of people who are trapped in Private Rented Accommodation paying skyrocketing rents and are not eligible for social housing, but who simply cannot afford to buy in the private market. Our plan is to provide homes for these people at prices they can afford. Only eight new affordable homes to purchase were provided in Laois and none in Offaly in 2023 under this Fianna Fail / Fine Gael Government, and only 30 or so will be provided this year in Laois,’’ Dep Stanley stated. 

He claimed the recently launched plan “sets out how a Sinn Féin Government would deliver genuinely affordable homes, costing between €250,000 to €300,000, and at the scale required to meet the increasing demand.’’

“Our plan sets out how we will deliver genuinely affordable homes in Laois and Offaly. This would make a real difference to people in this area who are hoping to finally have a home of their own. I know that so many people want to own their own place but have been priced out by years of bad and inflationary policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that have fuelled the housing crisis. The most recent CSO report stated that house prices shot up again by almost 9% in the past year.

The policy Sinn Féin have published sets out a better way, how people can have hope of owning their own home. In Government, Sinn Féin would deliver genuinely affordable homes so that people currently priced out can finally own their own place at an affordable cost,’’ said Dep Stanley. 

"In early September we will publish a comprehensive, detailed and fully costed alternative five year housing plan setting out how we would address the housing crisis in Government.

Our plan details how a Sinn Féin led Government would deliver 50,000 affordable homes in five years to rent and buy across the State. The homes would be delivered by Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies. They would be for sale at prices from €250,000 to €300,000 and would be delivered in every county across the State including here in Laois and Offaly,’’ he said. 

 “Our plan sets out an ambitious programme of state-funded affordable rental and purchase homes. It also shows that by the state providing or covering the cost of the land, site servicing and utility connections, and waiving development levies these homes can be sold to eligible purchasers for prices between €250,000 and €300,000,” said Dep Stanley. 

The affordable purchase homes will be available to single people and couples who earn up to €90,000 a year gross. The affordable rentals for people on net incomes of up to €59,000 in Laois and Offaly, he said.