‘Co-Living schemes are not the solution to the housing crisis’ – says local councillor

Dale Greenwood 23 Nov 2020
Co-living plan is opposed

SOUTHSIDE Councillor Tina MacVeigh has welcomed the announcement by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien TD on Co-Living.

This morning Cllr MacVeigh said: “I welcome the inference that Co-Living schemes are not the solution to the housing crisis – Co-Living was never about decent housing or solving the housing crisis – it appears the Minister is more concerned about land prices rather than quality of life or even the appropriateness of this kind of living at all.

“However, today is a good day. This is a victory for those of us who have been campaigning for years on the question of Co-Living, especially in the Dublin 8 area. I have already received lots of messages from local residents who see this as a step in the right direction, albeit late in the day.

Cllr. MacVeigh added: “Co-Living Housing Policy – if it even deserves such a name – exists because it is cheaper for developers to build these kinds of schemes and make more money out of them. But they are destined, like luxury student accommodation schemes, to become the tenements of the future.

“The conversation now needs to quickly move towards what needs to happen next, what legislation needs to be passed and what funding streams need to be drawn down and made available to local authorities to get on with a mass programme of public home building – that is the only solution to the housing crisis.

“After the #SaveOscarTraynor win, the fight is on to get public housing built. The fight is also on to get income thresholds for social housing eligibility removed so that anyone who wants public housing should be eligible for it – and pay rent according to their take home pay.

“Pressure needs to be applied from below – this is what won on Oscar Traynor and on a Co-Living ban”.

 

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