Since the crash/collapse of property prices in Dublin and the rest of the country there’s been a bit of a problem with affordable housing. It’s wasn’t affordable anymore. While there are several thousand people on the waiting list (Including yours truly) nobody is buying anything. The difference between the market price and the affordable price was getting to be less than €5,000 in many cases. Affordable housing is generally sold at 2/3rds the market price with penalties/clawbacks being paid by the purchaser should they sell within 20 years.

With little or no difference between the market price and affordable price nobody was buying – and indeed Dublin City Council didn’t even seem to ring people to offer anything. Also financial institutions are only offering 80% of the valuation to borrowers leaving many unable to buy.

Yesterday Dublin City Council announced further reductions will be introduced to make the affordable housing they cannot sell more affordable and if these apartments still do not sell then they will be rented to people in need of social housing.

I don’t know if my phone will ring with an offer now things are getting cheaper – Malahide Road and Ashtown were mentioned as areas that DCC are paying a lot of money on bridging loans on (aka desperate to shift!). Not quite areas on the top of my list. Also I like many others would have problems arranging finances in the current climate – wonder if now that the state owns and guarantees banks these days Minister Gormley could have a word in their ear? Or isn’t that sort of reckless lending what got them into a mess they are in at the moment – ah but that was lending to builders to build houses, hoard land and pump up the prices for consumers in the first place.

You’d get dizzy following it.