Tax measures to discourage investors from competing with firsttime buyers in the new house market have had a significant impact, according to Dublin Corporation.
But the initiatives taken in April have done nothing to address a growing housing crisis in the local authority and private rented sectors, it was claimed yesterday.
A group of agencies operating in the sector - Threshold, Focus Ireland, St Vincent de Paul, the Simon Community of Ireland and the Sonas Housing Association - called for a national housing commission to deal with the problem.
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Robert Molloy, said he would meet
the five organisations "to consider how best our common concern to improve the housing conditions and prospects of all our people can be advanced".
A corporation discussion document on future policy in the sector confirms its housing waiting lists are increasing while space for building houses is running out.
The June document, circulated to the media yesterday, says it is generally agreed there has been a "significant drop" in investor involvement in the new house market since changes were implemented following publication of the Bacon report in April. Acting on the report, the Government introduced stamp duty on new houses and new apartments for non-owner occupiers.
But the corporation document warns that continuing price rises are having a threefold effect on social housing:
Some families who might previously have been able to buy their own houses have been squeezed into the social housing sector.
The number of "casual vacancies" has seriously declined since tenants cannot afford to buy their own homes.
If the trend continues, local authority housing costs will rise significantly, thereby reducing the number of units the corporation can buy.
About 5,500 applicants await housing in the city, up from 3,966 in 1996.
As all remaining housing lands in the authority's ownership will be built on by 2000, one option the corporation is considering is a building programme in neighbouring counties.
Mr Kieran Murphy, director of Threshold, said there had been a serious deterioration in the housing situation over the past six to eight months, particularly for those on very low incomes.
"What we've seen in the last number of months is an increase in the number of people who are homeless. We've seen an increase in the number of people who are living in bed-and-breakfast accommodation."
