• Fianna Fáil’s record on housing is equivalent to ‘Junk Status’

Fianna Fáil’s first-time buyers’ scheme will only increase house prices, putting them further out of reach, Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy has said.  Fianna Fáil’s scheme will hike house prices and do nothing to help first-time buyers.

“Fianna Fáil don’t have any credible plan to improve housing affordability.  Fine Gael in the last two years have, because of increased housing supply and better regulation stabilised house prices, that saw one-third of houses bought last year, by first time buyers.

“The party’s record on housing is abysmal; they have no new policy initiatives and are now reaching back to their same old, tired ideas of the past that wrecked this country before and will wreck it again.  Voters should be very concerned when they hear that Fianna Fáil has a policy that will increase house prices and which FF have no idea how to pay for.  Will they hike taxes only to hike house prices?

“In the last 12 months, first time buyers made up over 30% of all homes purchased in the state. Fine Gael have implemented a range of measures to make housing more affordable including –

• Implementing rent pressure zones across the country to make rents more affordable.
• Introduced the rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme, supporting first time buyers.
• We’ve built 50,000 homes in the last two years
• We’ve established the land development agency that will deliver more affordable homes for families

“Fianna Fáil proposals have demonstrated that they are still the same old Fianna Fáil.  They are once again being reckless with the housing market.  This is their speciality, their record on housing is equivalent to Junk Status.”