“Are we Facing a Tsunami of Evictions?’ April 4, 2023 Unipro2013main Irish News, Irish Property </p> <h2>Housing Crisis and the ending of the Evictions Ban</h2> <p> Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaks with Shane Coleman on Newstalk Breakfast and answers questions of the housing crisis and the ending of the evictions ban.</p> <p>There will be constraints to building houses here no matter who is in government, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.</p> <p>He was speaking amid ongoing criticism of the lifting of the eviction ban from the end of March.</p> <p>Mr Varadkar told Newstalk Breakfast ending the ban was the right thing to do.</p> <p>“I think everyone knows that for a number of years now we’ve seen an exodus of small landlords from the rental market,” he said.</p> <p>“I think it’s 40,000 over the last five years [who] have left the rental market.</p> <p>“That’s one of the things that’s contributing to the housing crisis.</p> <p>“The view that Minister [Darragh] O’Brien took, which I supported very strongly, was that continuing the ban for longer would have caused more landlords to exit the market – thus making the problem worse later.</p> <p>“That’s fundamentally one of the decisions why we decided not to continue with it”.</p> <p>‘Most frustrating for me’<br /> Mr Varadkar said the Government has increased housing supply.</p> <p>“We used the period of the temporary winter eviction ban build a lot of additional social housing – about 6,000 units.</p> <p>“That will take a lot of people off the housing list, and also free up a lot of private rented accommodation for other people”.</p> <p>Mr Varadkar said he is also frustrated at the process taking too long.</p> <p>“What’s most frustrating for me is that it is taking so long,” he said.</p> <p>“If it was the case of signing an order, passing a law or signing a cheque it would all be done by now – but there are real constraints”.</p> <p>‘Redouble our efforts’<br /> Mr Varadkar said this includes a rise in the cost of steel and materials, and a ‘construction industry collapse’ 12 years ago.</p> <p>“We’re only starting to get to the point now of equilibrium,” he said.</p> <p>“We aren’t even there yet, quite frankly, and we have to redouble our efforts and do everything we can to speed up supply.</p> <p>“There are real constraints and unfortunately – I know people may not want to hear this – but no matter who’s in government, those constraints will be there,” he added.</p> <p>Biden visit ‘not officially confirmed’<br /> On the upcoming visit of US President Joe Biden, Mr Varadkar said this has yet to be officially confirmed.</p> <p>“Plans are underway, I’m very much looking forward to greeting President Biden to Ireland,” he said.</p> <p>“It’s actually not officially confirmed yet, by the way, and the programme isn’t finalised.</p> <p>“There’s an outside chance that it won’t go ahwad, but we’re operating on the basis that it will go ahead”.</p> <p>Mr Varadkar said restoration of the Northern Ireland institutions looks unlikely for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.</p> <p>“Will the executive and assembly be up and running within the next few weeks? I don’t think so,” he said.</p> <p>“I think it can certainly happen this year.</p> <p>“We all would have liked to have it happen before the anniversary, but that seems unlikely now,” he added.</p> <p>#ireland #housingcrisis #newstalk<br /> <br /> Credit to : Newstalk</p> <p> Please support our Sponsors here :
