LABOUR councillor Joe Leddin has condemned the Government for a lack of ambition on housing in Budget 2024.
Cllr Leddin maintains that the Government has failed to show an appetite to solve the housing crisis.
“Rents are skyrocketing, the numbers of children in homeless accommodation are soaring, young working people are stuck at home with their parents, and Government is simply not doing enough,” he told the Limerick Post.
“The housing crisis is constantly coming up on doors in my area and there are no signs of it letting up. Tax breaks for landlords will do nothing to address the spiralling cost of rent or the chronic levels of tenancy uncertainty.”
According to the City West representative, Labour have been campaigning to end the scourge of vacant and derelict properties that could be used as homes.
“In our Alternative Budget, Labour called for the Vacant Homes Tax to be 10 times the Local Property Tax, with a €2,000 minimum charge. This would drive the change needed to get houses back into supply. With limited funding the council have made some progress however derelict houses and buildings continue to blight communities,” Cllr Leddin said.
“This is the first Fianna Fáil Budget in over a decade, but some things never change. A failure to radically reform our planning laws in the case of appeals has resulted in hundreds of houses, apartments, and student accommodation undelivered in our city adding further misery in terms of higher rents on limited supply to those seeking suitable accommodation.
“The Land Development Agency, a Fine Gael established quango, has to date delivered not one house in Limerick despite several years in existence. The Government have given tax breaks to landlords, and crumbs to renters, they are out of ideas, out of time and soon will hopefully be out of power,” he concluded.
