The Family Home and Housing
The Family Home is at the heart of our community. I stand foursquare with every family, which is experiencing mortgage difficulties from either negative equity, loss of financial income or pressure from any of the banks. Every family is entitled to their own home, and Fianna Fáil will tackle every essential element of this problem to ensure every family can have that. The finance to buy a home, the finance for the builders to build all the houses we need, easing the Central Bank’s strict conditions, pushing the banks on mortgages, and providing cheap finance to retrofit homes and benefit from the revolution in home-energy use –we will tackle and provide practical solutions for each of those.
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No More EvictionsNo family should be evicted from their family home in Ireland. I am totally against the repossession of family homes. Fianna Fail believes that the Bank Veto should be removed. We would establish an Independent Debt Settlement Office that would decide on restructuring of mortgage and personal debt. We will strengthen the Code of Conduct on mortgage arrears that the FG / Labour Government watered down. Fianna Fail will protect the Family Home. This Government has badly failed those in mortgage arrears.
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Supporting Home OwnershipThe lack of appropriate house-building under the present government has now created a national emergency in Ireland. The ESRI forecast that at least 25,000 new families will be established each year for the foreseeable future. It is generally agreed that we need to provide around 30,000 new homes every year. Fianna Fáil makes the commitment to build 150,000 new homes over the next five years, and to have new homes available for 80,000 first-time buyers. We have a housing crisis at present: that must first be acknowledged and then a fully-resourced, co-ordinated national plan must be put in place to address it.
Levy on DerelictionWe will place a levy on all Vacant/Derelict Houses and Sites to encourage development, and expedite the refurbishment of present local authority and available homes presently in the possession of NAMA. Contrast this with the present government’s present plan to build 600 social houses a year, when the need is for 100,000!
New Social HousingFianna Fáil will build a total of 45,000 new Social Housing Homes in urban and rural settings with a fund of €4.5 billion. We will revise Density levels to encourage construction and retain Part V in full, which directs builders to deliver 10% of units in any scheme for social housing, and we will establish Part V teams in all the local authorities to deliver on that.
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New First Time Buyers SchemeIn order to deliver on those ambitious targets, we will introduce a First-Time Buyers Savings Scheme for 80,000 first-time buyers, and a Tenant Purchase Right-to-Buy Scheme for 150,000 tenants. We will get rid of the Bankers’ veto, put a mortgage levy on them, which we will return to mortgage holders, and vigorously tackle the difficult position of those in Mortgages Arrears. To ensure that builders have the capital to begin building all those vital houses, we will radically revise the Strategic Banking Corporation’s remit to include private builders, establish a new Home Development Bank, and help develop a Credit Union Mortgage Credit Scheme.
Green Deal and RetrofittingIt is long past time that a proper, co-ordinated and funded programme of National Retrofitting was re-introduced and proceeded with, and we want to see a new Green Deal Agency established that will provide cheap finance in an easy, accessible way, for all sorts of housing, to benefit from the revolution in home-energy use. The combination of both of those will dramatically improve the quality of our housing stock, and maximize the benefits consumers can obtain in their energy use.
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Social Contract for Seniors
Totally committed to supporting our Seniors in independent living
A key element of Fianna Fáil’s housing and social policy will be our Social Contract for Seniors. Whilst we have one of the youngest populations in Europe, we will also have an increasing number of Seniors who will live to a ripe old age. Those are the people who raised their families and built this country with their work and taxes and personal commitment, and we are committed to showing our appreciation for them by making provision for their needs and caring for them in accordance with their own wishes.
Our Social Contract with Seniors will guarantee that our over-65s will stay in their own homes as long as they wish, or be accommodated in another safe and secure home.
We are totally committed to supporting our seniors in independent living for as long as practically possible. We will restore the Housing Adaption Grant for them, and implement an online waiting-time target quarterly, to expedite the grant and the adaptations.
Specialised Accommodation
We will promote Specialised Accommodation for Seniors in the heart of communities, with integrated, local community-based living spaces offering effective and personal care and reducing their isolation. In full co-operation with the organisations that champion the rights of the elderly we will develop a new Fair Deal Programme for Independent Living, along the lines of the Fair Deal for nursing home care, so that all our seniors can live in their own homes as independently as possible, as long as practically possible. That’s the way it should be.
A key element of Fianna Fáil’s housing and social policy will be our Social Contract for Seniors. Whilst we have one of the youngest populations in Europe, we will also have an increasing number of Seniors who will live to a ripe old age. Those are the people who raised their families and built this country with their work and taxes and personal commitment, and we are committed to showing our appreciation for them by making provision for their needs and caring for them in accordance with their own wishes.
Our Social Contract with Seniors will guarantee that our over-65s will stay in their own homes as long as they wish, or be accommodated in another safe and secure home.
We are totally committed to supporting our seniors in independent living for as long as practically possible. We will restore the Housing Adaption Grant for them, and implement an online waiting-time target quarterly, to expedite the grant and the adaptations.
Specialised Accommodation
We will promote Specialised Accommodation for Seniors in the heart of communities, with integrated, local community-based living spaces offering effective and personal care and reducing their isolation. In full co-operation with the organisations that champion the rights of the elderly we will develop a new Fair Deal Programme for Independent Living, along the lines of the Fair Deal for nursing home care, so that all our seniors can live in their own homes as independently as possible, as long as practically possible. That’s the way it should be.
Pyrite
Unbelievably hard campaign for families
Pyrite is a sad reality for many homeowners in North Dublin. I have been a leading campaigner and advocate for homeowners who are affected by this issue.
FG/LAB allowed insurers, quarries and some builders to walk away from their responsibilities to fix those affected homes. I produced the very first piece of legislation to deal with Pyrite in 2012, which this Government voted down.
Less than a hundred homes fixed: Thousands wait
While a scheme for the re-instatement of houses and apartments damaged by Pyrite has been agreed, and some schedules set in place, the vast majority of cases are unresolved. The Government Scheme is too slow and bogged down in red tape. In many cases there is no agreement regarding who should pay for the extra damage done to furnishings and fittings in the course of the re-instatement of the building, pushing further major costs onto homeowners whose lives have been disrupted by this calamity. By the time of this election less than 100 homes will have been fixed under this scheme, when the need is for thousands.
No home with Pyrite will be left unrepaired
Thousands of other homeowners with Pyrite will not be able to have their homes fixed under this Governments Scheme. They are left in limbo with no hope of remediation. That is simply not good enough.
With my Fianna Fáil colleagues I will bring in a new Pyrite Remediation Scheme, where no homeowner whose insurer will not pay, will be left behind. This scheme will also place a levy by way of a contribution on those responsible.
Pyrite is a sad reality for many homeowners in North Dublin. I have been a leading campaigner and advocate for homeowners who are affected by this issue.
FG/LAB allowed insurers, quarries and some builders to walk away from their responsibilities to fix those affected homes. I produced the very first piece of legislation to deal with Pyrite in 2012, which this Government voted down.
Less than a hundred homes fixed: Thousands wait
While a scheme for the re-instatement of houses and apartments damaged by Pyrite has been agreed, and some schedules set in place, the vast majority of cases are unresolved. The Government Scheme is too slow and bogged down in red tape. In many cases there is no agreement regarding who should pay for the extra damage done to furnishings and fittings in the course of the re-instatement of the building, pushing further major costs onto homeowners whose lives have been disrupted by this calamity. By the time of this election less than 100 homes will have been fixed under this scheme, when the need is for thousands.
No home with Pyrite will be left unrepaired
Thousands of other homeowners with Pyrite will not be able to have their homes fixed under this Governments Scheme. They are left in limbo with no hope of remediation. That is simply not good enough.
With my Fianna Fáil colleagues I will bring in a new Pyrite Remediation Scheme, where no homeowner whose insurer will not pay, will be left behind. This scheme will also place a levy by way of a contribution on those responsible.
Mortgages and Management Fees
We must devise a better mortgage system
We definitely do not want another housing boom, which saw house prices skyrocketing, but we must devise a much better Mortgage System that will facilitate people in buying their own homes when and if they wish.
The 20% Deposit requirement, with a slight variation for first-time buyers, is far too excessive. FG / LAB by their actions will ensure that thousands of young people who want to own their own homes, cannot do so, and are consigned to a lifetime of paying excessive rent. We will change this, and give people the chance to own their own home if they wish.
New Buy Your Own Home Schemes
Fianna Fáil will establish a new First-Time Buyers Savings Scheme, and for every €200 saved in each individual’s deposit savings account, we will add €50, up to a cap of €5,000, over a four-year period. This is per person, not per home. That scheme can help 80,000 first-time buyers get their foot on the property ladder safely and securely.
Tenant Purchase Scheme
As well as that, we will launch a new ‘Right to Buy’ Local Authority Tenant Purchase Scheme across the whole country. That will give 150,000 tenants the boost they need to purchase their own home. These are the practical steps necessary to unblock the national house-building logjam and Fianna Fáil will implement them.
We definitely do not want another housing boom, which saw house prices skyrocketing, but we must devise a much better Mortgage System that will facilitate people in buying their own homes when and if they wish.
The 20% Deposit requirement, with a slight variation for first-time buyers, is far too excessive. FG / LAB by their actions will ensure that thousands of young people who want to own their own homes, cannot do so, and are consigned to a lifetime of paying excessive rent. We will change this, and give people the chance to own their own home if they wish.
New Buy Your Own Home Schemes
Fianna Fáil will establish a new First-Time Buyers Savings Scheme, and for every €200 saved in each individual’s deposit savings account, we will add €50, up to a cap of €5,000, over a four-year period. This is per person, not per home. That scheme can help 80,000 first-time buyers get their foot on the property ladder safely and securely.
Tenant Purchase Scheme
As well as that, we will launch a new ‘Right to Buy’ Local Authority Tenant Purchase Scheme across the whole country. That will give 150,000 tenants the boost they need to purchase their own home. These are the practical steps necessary to unblock the national house-building logjam and Fianna Fáil will implement them.
Property Taxes
No increase for ten years
Property Taxes in Dublin are the highest in the country and I am totally opposed to any further increase over the next ten years. Fianna Fáil would freeze the property tax valuation. In Fingal, we in Fianna Fáil have worked hard to bring about a 15% reduction in property tax to homeowners, and we are committed to further reforming the Local Property Tax and making it fairer. Many people in Dublin Fingal are paying management fees as well as a Local Property Tax. They are paying on the double for some services that they don’t even get.
Property Taxes in Dublin are the highest in the country and I am totally opposed to any further increase over the next ten years. Fianna Fáil would freeze the property tax valuation. In Fingal, we in Fianna Fáil have worked hard to bring about a 15% reduction in property tax to homeowners, and we are committed to further reforming the Local Property Tax and making it fairer. Many people in Dublin Fingal are paying management fees as well as a Local Property Tax. They are paying on the double for some services that they don’t even get.
Management Fees
Tax Relief for Management Fees
Tax Relief should be given to people who pay Management Fees. I am sponsoring a Bill in the Seanad to address that very issue. Local Property Tax (Management Fees) Relief Bill, will give a third, up to a maximum of €300, off a person’s local property tax, if their management fees are paid to date.
Tax Relief should be given to people who pay Management Fees. I am sponsoring a Bill in the Seanad to address that very issue. Local Property Tax (Management Fees) Relief Bill, will give a third, up to a maximum of €300, off a person’s local property tax, if their management fees are paid to date.