The introduction of a new affordable purchase scheme was flagged three years ago as part of Budget 2016, but was only signed into law last June. Under the previous scheme local authorities both built affordable houses and bought houses from developers to sell on to qualifying house-buyers. ‘Really dangerous’Mr O’Connor said it would be “really dangerous” for councils to again be involved in the building or selling of affordable housing. “It’s a mistake for a local authority to build houses itself, to be the developer and sell affordable housing. The department does talk about local authorities building and selling; it’s a really dangerous position to put local authorities in.

Source: The Irish Times February 04, 2019 00:56 UTC