26 County General Election 2020

[seafoid]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

More housing units need to be supplied but that's probably more a second issue, the rental market has filtered out of control and it's a product of FG/FF policies and it's not by accident, it's by design. Plenty of FF/FG TDs have vested interests in a market that profits landlords.

It is a property bubble caused by low interest rates

They all crash and according to Morgan Kelly when that happens the house
loses 70% of the increase in price during the bubble.
It is all fairly mechanical.

https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/2630

[Jim_Murphy_74]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

When I was setting out in the 90's fixity of tenure was a huge issue.  It appears to be today as well.  When things seem on the up landlord start to raise rents or look to sell on the appreciated asset.   There is little legal impediment to this.  I have a German buddy who owns a house and apartment.  He lives in house with family and rents out apartment.  Once apartment is looked after (independent government inspector can be invoked to check this), tenant pays rent (state rent control and reviews) he can only get the apartment back if he himself is homeless.

The fixity of tenure things goes back to the 1800s in Ireland (remember it was a key demand of the Land League).  I think it is part of our psyche now.

Long term in can mean not paying rent on a pension.  I would say a lot of people would fear being on a low state pension and trying to make the rent.

That's two reasons straight away.

/Jim.

[RadioGAAGAA]

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

Supply is part of the problem.

Landlords having the purchasing power (no doubt many by dint of their rental incomes) to price out folks looking to buy-to-live is another.

[RadioGAAGAA]

This is why representative democracy is a load of bullshít.

There is nothing to stop questions like that (and more relevant ones) going on a separate ballot aside from the main election.

Then the incoming parties know exactly what the people want.


Representative democracy - pick out 2 or 3 lies from our list of lies that you like - ignoring the rest of our lies that you don't like - and we'll promise to do our very best to do fúck all about delivering these lies. Then "vote for change" in 4 years time to bring back the crowd that shafted you 8 years ago.


It ain't the fúcking (communications) stone age any more - so why are we persisting with a method of government that was invented before the telegram?

Direct democracy has mixed results. Seems to work well in Switzerland from what I've heard. Doesn't work so well in California. Voters are just not that good at micromanaging complex matters of state.

Ah, but your still dressing it up in the same democratic model we have at the moment.

If I'd my way the system would be:

Elected President (who cannot be affiliated with any party), who selects a cabinet of professionals, each must be qualified for their role (i.e. a suitably qualified and experienced doctor/nurse in charge of health, or for infrastructure that'd be a suitably qualified and experienced engineer). They are interviewed by both representative bodies (outlined below).

(A) The Senate is done away with and replaced with an assembly of members elected by professional bodies.

(B) The Dail is retained (but reduced in numbers), and is elected by the people.

The people also provide steering macro-information on what they want.

• Taxes up/down
• High level spending distribution

etc

They also have a list of referendum questions on social matters as carried through the previous Dail sitting (more below)[1]


The cabinet then run the country according to the desires of the people as expressed by steering information.
The Dail keep the cabinet honest by representing the people and can push for localised projects.
Any decisions are proposed by the cabinet and voted on by both the Dail and the assembly of professionals. So each statute must stand on its merits rather than be whipped as can be now. The Dail and the assembly of professionals can scrutinize statues and suggest amendments, which then go back to cabinet.

The president (and by extension his cabinet) is voted on every 4 years, although the Dail & assembly of professionals can call votes of no confidence in any cabinet member at any time. A passed VONC means that member must be replaced.

The Dail is voted in every 4 years.

The assembly of professionals is voted on every 4 years [although this is a much smaller vote than referendum obviously as there are far fewer professional bodies].


[1]Any social law changes (i.e. recent abortion change) can be raised for discussion by the bodies via petition of greater than 5% of population. If agreement on the change cannot be agreed by both bodies & cabinet, it is put onto a further decision sheet for the next Dail election  Any petition over 15% of the population is deemed a matter of great importance, and even any statue agreed by the representative bodies is put back to the people on that same decision sheet at the Dail election.




So the idea is to break with party politics swinging from fiscal right to fiscal left, f**king up the economy each which way as they go and offer a more stable system. It is also to put suitably qualified and experienced people in charge, who can see through civil service bullshit and ineptitude as well as see through bullshit costing of projects from contractors too. The assembly of professional bodies only adds to being able to see through crap - and offer a degree of informed scrutiny that they Dail (or Senate) simply cannot. It also puts the people in charge of the high level direction of the country, and at the same time allows them greater fidelity in decisions than a manifesto.

[Main Street]

Dundoogan is an example of an Affordable Housing scheme, which does not cost the state
and believe it or not,  contrary to the ignorant hysteria of some politicians does not send Ireland down the path of Venezuela.


Dundoogan, Haynestown is a planned 1100 home development, 112 of which Tuath are acquiring for social housing in collaboration with the Department of Housing, Louth County Council and developer, Cannon Kirk Ltd.
The total cost of the 112 social homes is circa €27 million, which, when completed, will consist of 40 two bed houses, 66 three bed houses and 6 four bed houses. All tenants to be housed are from Louth County Council's housing list. The legal, financial and management framework for Dundoogan was agreed between Louth County Council, Túath and Cannon Kirk Ltd. Tuath's purchase is being funded by a combination of CALF (Capital Advanced Leasing Facility) from the Department of Housing and competitive loan finance on a fixed term of 25 years from the Housing Finance Agency / European Investment Bank.

https://www.icsh.ie/content/members-news/social-housing-development-launch-b%C3%A9al-%C3%A1tha-ghaorthaidh

[manfromdelmonte]

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

Supply is part of the problem.

Landlords having the purchasing power (no doubt many by dint of their rental incomes) to price out folks looking to buy-to-live is another.

landlords are actually exiting the sector
especially small landlords

a lot of houses in towns are being bought by investment funds, renovated and then high rents set as the houses are in good areas
other landlords see the rents rising, so do so likewise

[gallsman]

(A) The Senate is done away with and replaced with an assembly of members elected by professional bodies.

What professional bodies would these be?

[Angelo]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

[trileacman]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Which government policies exactly have put the market out of control?

[Angelo]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Which government policies exactly have put the market out of control?

The state subsidises private landlords to the tune of about half a billion a year.

[weareros]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Which government policies exactly have put the market out of control?

The state subsidises private landlords to the tune of about half a billion a year.

Are those not HAP payments - where landlords are getting a subsidy to provide social housing. Is it a Sinn Fein policy to remove the HAP payment. Generally curious, don't know the answer.

[seafoid]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Which government policies exactly have put the market out of control?

Probably being REIT and vulture friendly
Plus subsidising rent instead of building social housing
But the ECB dropping rates to please debtholders has also done damage

[Angelo]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Which government policies exactly have put the market out of control?

The state subsidises private landlords to the tune of about half a billion a year.

Are those not HAP payments - where landlords are getting a subsidy to provide social housing. Is it a Sinn Fein policy to remove the HAP payment. Generally curious, don't know the answer.

Long term yes, they want to invest more in capital and less in the private sector which is logical, pragmatic and far more efficient use of public money. HAP payments inflate the rental market.

The FF FG approach is to privatise everything and big business will manipulate the market to get as much out of it as they can. Look at the state of the health service because  FF and FG took the route of a two tier health system.

[macdanger2]

whats the obssesion in ireland with owning a house.

The current problem isn't necessarily with owning a house, it's moreso the fact that a lack of supply of housing overall has caused rents to increase hugely resulting in increased homelessness and many people spending a large % of their income on rent

It's moreso with the fact that there's a huge incentive for wealthy individuals or investors to purchase housing units and commodities that will yield big profits and appreciate in value.

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

I'm saying the rental market is a bigger problem. Government policy has put the rental market out of control, housing units then become valuable commodities for investors and wealthy individuals who can yield high profitable returns from buying a house and putting it into the rental market. They are also pricing prospective first time buyers out of the markets two fold, in that extortionate rents stop people from being able to save up necessary deposits and the fact they have easier access of capital to purchase these houses.

Rent is dependent on supply/demand balance the market - nobody would be able to charge these extortionate rents if there was sufficient supply (look back pre-2015 for proof of this). Currently, there's a massive deficit on the supply side

Institutional investors affect the prices houses sell for but not the prices charged for rent.

[RadioGAAGAA]

So are you saying that supply is not the problem?

Supply is part of the problem.

Landlords having the purchasing power (no doubt many by dint of their rental incomes) to price out folks looking to buy-to-live is another.

landlords are actually exiting the sector
especially small landlords

a lot of houses in towns are being bought by investment funds, renovated and then high rents set as the houses are in good areas
other landlords see the rents rising, so do so likewise

Sorry, yeah, I should have made clear I am encompassing the investment funds within my definition of "landlords".