Sir, – Your report, “House prices in Dublin fall as property market slows overall” (Home News, July 1st) contained the line: “Davy chief economist and the report’s author, Conall MacCoille, blamed the slowdown on increased regulation.”
It is interesting that we normally see reports of blame when the price of essential goods and services go up – whenever we see falls in the costs to consumers of electricity, fuel, insurance or food, for example, it is a cause for celebration, not blame!
As long as we continue to view housing as an asset, the return on which to be maximised, rather than a service to be delivered to as many people as possible at affordable cost, I suspect we are unlikely to see many more positive reports like this one. – Yours, etc,
ALAN EUSTACE,
Oxford, UK.