Latest news with #JamesBrowne
BreakingNews.ie
16 hours ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Rent pressure zone extension signed into law
Rent pressure zones have been extended nationwide following the signing of emergency legislation into law by President Michael D Higgins. The system, which caps rent increases at the rate of inflation or 2 per cent, whichever is lower, have also been extended until the end of February after originally being due to expire at the end of the year. Advertisement If no action had been taken, there would have left a two-month gap before the Government's proposed changes to the rental sector are due to take effect in March. The measures were rushed through the Dáil and the Seanad this week before being signed into law by Mr Higgins on Thursday evening. The Government is being pressured again over the housing crisis after announcing a swathe of new rent and housing measures. This includes the introduction of rent caps nationwide of 2 per cent or to inflation, whichever is lower. Advertisement This will apply to around a fifth of tenancies not already covered, but has been criticised for allowing rents to 'reset' to the market rate when renters voluntarily leave a tenancy. New six-year minimum tenancies on offer from March next year have been criticised for allowing landlords to 'reset' rents every six years. Earlier, Minister for Housing James Browne said the target to build 41,000 new homes this year was 'not realistic'. Mr Browne has admitted previously that meeting the 2025 target would be 'extremely challenging' and all predictions are trending around 34,000. Advertisement Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday, he said he is committed to enacting a 'step change' in the housing department and will clear 'the dead wood out of the way so that homes can get delivered'. 'I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected,' he said of the housing targets. 'We had hoped for much higher figures last year. 'I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. Advertisement 'We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. 'My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. '40,000 houses is nowhere near enough.' The last Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition built more than 130,000 homes between 2020 and 2024, while the current coalition has set a target of in excess of 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030. Advertisement The target for this year is 41,000 new builds, despite the fact the Government missed its target of 33,450 last year and also missed its new-build social housing target by 1,429 last year. The Central Bank has also projected the Government will miss its own housing targets by a wide margin for the next three years – and on Thursday revised its prediction down further, predicting 32,500 newbuilds by the end of 2025. Ireland Rent pressure zones: What are they and what change... Read More The Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Government, supported by several independents, has insisted boosting supply is the best way to encourage affordability while opposition parties argue more state-owned homes and regulation is needed. 'We'd gotten to a point with housing where we had seen a very significant increase in supply over the last number of years, and then it's plateaued,' Tanaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said. 'The job of this government, and the job we're working on day in day out, is to get that momentum back.'
Irish Independent
16 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Rent pressure zone now covers entire country as legislation rushed through
All people with existing tenancies, so long as they stay where they are, will only be faced with a 2pc annual rent rise, or the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation, whichever is the lower. Confirmation that all renters are now covered came after the Seanad rushed all stages of the legislation today and it was sent immediately to Áras an Uachtaráin. "Having received and considered the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025, the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law,' a statement from his spokesperson confirmed. The Government rushed through the legislation to head off an expected rush by landlords outside the existing RPZs, which covered most of the country, to increase rents ahead of new rent rules announced by Housing Minister James Browne earlier this month. The new rules are designed to stimulate investment in rental developments, but sparked warnings that they would inevitably lead to rent increases. The Government is being pressured again over the housing crisis after announcing a swathe of new rent and housing measures. New six-year minimum tenancies on offer from March next year have been criticised for allowing landlords to 'reset' rents every six years. Earlier, Housing Minister James Browne said the target to build 41,000 new homes this year is 'not realistic'. Mr Browne has admitted previously that meeting the 2025 target would be 'extremely challenging' and all predictions are trending around 34,000. Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday, he said he is committed to enacting a 'step change' in the housing department and will clear 'the dead wood out of the way so that homes can get delivered'. ADVERTISEMENT 'I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected,' he said of the housing targets. 'We had hoped for much higher figures last year. 'I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. 'We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. 'My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. '40,000 houses is nowhere near enough.' The last Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition built more than 130,000 homes between 2020 and 2024, while the current coalition has set a target of in excess of 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030. The target for this year is 41,000 new builds, despite the fact the Government missed its target of 33,450 last year and also missed its newbuild social housing target by 1,429 last year. The Central Bank has also projected the Government will miss its own housing targets by a wide margin for the next three years – and on Thursday revised its prediction down further, predicting 32,500 newbuilds by the end of 2025. The Fianna Fail-Fine Gael Government, supported by several independents, has insisted boosting supply is the best way to encourage affordability while opposition parties argue more state-owned homes and regulation is needed. 'We'd gotten to a point with housing where we had seen a very significant increase in supply over the last number of years, and then it's plateaued,' Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said. 'The job of this government, and the job we're working on day in day out, is to get that momentum back.'
The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
‘Not realistic for this year', Housing Minister says as Government unlikely to meet target of 41,000 new homes
THE target of building 41,000 new homes this year is 'not realistic', Housing Minister James Browne has admitted. He conceded meeting the aim would be 'extremely challenging' — with around 2 James Browne stated it is unlikely'the target for new builds this year will be met But Minister Browne insisted he was committed to enacting a 'step change' in the Housing Department and will clear 'the dead wood out of the way so that homes can get delivered'. Quizzed on this year's target, he told Newstalk: 'I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected. 'We had hoped for much higher figures last year. I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year.' He added: 'My position as Minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new READ MORE ON HOUSING CRISIS 'Because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, onto 60,000 houses — 40,000 houses is nowhere near enough.' The Meanwhile, total investment of €122billion is needed by 2030 if This includes €16.4billion this year, rising to €24.1billion by 2030 to hit 60,000 gaffs a year. Most read in Money Earlier this week, it emerged that the Minister Martin Heydon brought forward the first report from the Government's Timber in Construction Steering Group which calls on the State to use wood more when Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald slams Government over housing crisis Forestry Minister Micheal Healy-Rae has worked with the steering group on the report which notes that Ireland has excellent forest resources that are being underused in our construction sector. The steering group believes that our forests have the capacity to supply the timber needed to build 'INDIGENOUS RESOURCE' A new 'Wood first' procurement policy will be launched on the back of the report which will see State bodies ensure that timber is the "material of choice" in the construction of public buildings including schools, libraries and housing. Forestry Minister Micheal Healy-Rae told the Irish Sun: 'If we are trying to build twenty or thirty or sixty thousand houses – every one of those will need a roof and the most environmentally friendly way you can build a roof is not with steel or anything else – it is wood. 'Again with all the partitions in houses you have people who will want to use steel fixing or concrete but at the end of the day I am encouraging people to use wood instead. 'Timber framed houses made in a factory were very big during the Boomy Boom and people will tell you to use others instead like concrete but I think we should be promoting timber. 'We can grow it ourselves. It's our own indigenous resource. It is renewable. 'You plant it and it grows here, you cut it down and use it and you plant it again and it creates work locally.' 2 The new prediction estimates that 32,500 houses will be built by the end of 2025 Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Martina Devlin: Hot air will not deliver housing, but an all-hands-on-deck approach just might
Minister James Browne needs to push through some hard-hitting decisions An over-abundance of what the Italians call 'aria fritta' – exaggerated talk (literally, fried air) – about solving the housing crisis has been circulated by senior politicians. Their reliance on hot air went into overdrive during Darragh O'Brien's tenure as housing minister, and his successor James Browne is still wading through its foggy aftermath. Today, he admitted the Coalition will miss its own housing targets. It's a woeful acknowledgement, precipitated not by transparency on the Government's part, but a statement from the Central Bank that the Government's forecast of 41,000 units built this year won't be met. Instead, 32,500 is all that can be expected.
Irish Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Minister says some rents may increase as he admits 41,000 homes 'not realistic'
Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that rents "may go up in certain cases" due to his new Rent Pressure Zone plans. The Fianna Fáil TD also admitted that the housing target of 41,000 in 2025 is "no longer realistic". Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are expected to be extended across the country by the end of the week after the Government's decision to rush the legislation through the Dáil. The RPZs restrict the amount that a landlord can increase rents by two per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. More sweeping measures will be introduced next March that will see tenants enter into six-year contracts. However, landlords will be able to increase the rent to market rates either at the end of the six-year period or whenever a tenant leaves voluntarily. This has led to concern that short-term renters, such as students, will be negatively affected by rent rises. It has also angered the opposition, who argue that landlords will be able to increase rents regularly. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister Browne conceded that some rents may increase under the plans. He said: "The only way we can get rents down is to increase supply. That's having a certain system in place for tenants, for landlords and investors. "The current system is clearly not working. The Housing Agency report made that very clear, we have one of the toughest rent control systems in the world, and it is clearly impacting on supply. "Rents may go up in certain cases. I certainly hope they don't. "Our aim is to get rents down by increasing the level of supply. That's what we need to see happen." Speaking separately on Newstalk, Minister Browne also conceded that the Government will miss its housing target of 41,000. He said: "I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected. We had hoped for much higher figures last year. "I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. "We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. "My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. "40,000 houses is nowhere near enough." Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne criticised Minister Browne's comments. He said: "This morning, the Minister for Housing said that, in the wake of recent government policies, 'rents may go up… I certainly hope they don't.' "This interaction illustrates the government's uninformed, spray and pray approach to tackling the housing crisis – the Minister either knows his policies will cause an increase in rent cost, which he hollowly apologises for, or he doesn't understand how his policies will affect the market. "It's incompetence like this that has caused the Central Bank to downgrade its forecast for how many homes will be built this year and over the following two years – just when it looks like we can't fall any further, the government finds a way to worsen housing outlook."
