‘Councils should buy land for housing’

Cllr Johnnie Penrose spoke at the Labour Listens conference of the lack of housing in the midlands saying that the provision of proper, comfortable, affordable housing was always the bedrock of Labour policy.

He said local authorities should acquire land banks for house building.

The state collects huge levies from building and that money should be ploughed back into providing homes for hard-pressed young people. He called for a reduction in VAT on building materials and the immediate withdrawal of the proposed levy on concrete materials, saying “it’s dear enough to build”.

Cllr Penrose said the HAP rent supplement scheme is inadequate as the most people can get is €450 a month, when tenants face paying rents of €1,200 a month and more.

Long-time Labour member, Jim McCauley, speaking from the floor, condemned the recently introduced concrete levy, saying it was brought in to pay for pyrite and other problems, but he said the builders and the government should be paying for that.

Ms Bacik said Labour had put forward an alternative proposal regarding the cost of the pyrite and apartments defects problems, whereby the profits of building companies would be levied and the cost would not be passed on to customers.