Labour wil empower Local Authorities to CPO land for housing

Labour are committed to giving local authorities the power to CPO land for housing purposes at affordable prices.

Ireland is currently facing a crisis with a capital 'C' as average income families can no longer afford to purchase their own homes and home ownership is becoming the sole purview of the better off.

Those on lower incomes cannot even rent quality housing from local authorities as housing stocks fail to keep up with the population increase and with demand.

For example

• average house prices have quadrupled in the last 10 years
• twice as many people on housing lists as there was 10 years ago
• 60,000 people on rent allowance
• Government has only delivered 3,000 of 40,000 promised Affordable Houses
• annual demand for Social Housing is 10,000, government has only built 6,000

the Labour party is committed to ending the housing crisis with a range of radical and common sense actions.

Primarily these will involve

1. "Begin to Buy" scheme which will allow those in full time employment to own a percentage of their homes in line with their income.
2. increase in the construction of Affordable Housing and by abolishing get out clauses for builders in Part V of the planning act.
3. Compulsory purchase of land by Local Authorities where demand is too great to be met by private landowners and developers.
4. building 10,000 social houses each year
5. reformation of the stamp duty to facilitate first time buyers.

Landownership, primarily the right to own one's home has been a basic demand in Ireland since the Land League. It is too important to be left in the hands of developers, even if they are great craic in the tent at the Galway races!