Housing hopefuls locked out of market ‘resorting to raffles’

A claim that some young people desperate to buy homes are buying raffle tickets in the hope of winning houses – but that this then gives them a “gambling” profile which in turn makes banks hesitant to lend them money – has been made by a member of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District (MKMD).

Cllr David Jones was supporting the view of Cllr Andrew Duncan, who, at the October meeting of the MKMD, said working people are being left behind in the race to secure housing and that there was not enough focus on the housing needs of working families and young buyers locked out of the private market.

Things are so tough that some are placing their hopes in online raffles, Cllr Jones said as he backed Cllr Duncan.

“I just read an article there earlier about a young lad struggling to afford a home who spent €1,500 on raffle tickets hoping to win a house. That’s what people are resorting to,” Cllr Jones said.

That, he warned, could be detrimental to their efforts to buy a property: “When they go for a mortgage – if they’re lucky enough to go for a mortgage – these online raffles are being a hindrance on their mortgage applications and they’re being turned down because it’s seen as a form of gambling,” he said.

Cllr Duncan’s motion was calling for a review to be undertaken of the housing delivery targets in the Mullingar area Housing Strategy.

“There are people who have never worked a day in their life being prioritised over people who are driving up that M50 or up that M4 every morning at 6 o’clock who can’t afford a house,” Cllr Duncan said at the district’s October meeting.

“It’s all very virtuous and lovely to say we have to have social housing for everybody but we’re forgetting about the people who actually prop this country up,” he said.

He believes that where the district is acquiring homes through Part V agreements with private developers, it should increase the proportion of those made available through affordable purchase and cost-rental arrangements.

In response, the official reply was that the housing strategy and implementation of the Part V requirements are governed by the provisions of the Planning and Development Act and national housing policy.

It explained that Part V allocations are currently prioritised for social housing because of the significant number of households approved for social housing support and on the council’s waiting list.

The council said they recognised the difficulties working households face in accessing affordable accommodation and continued to engage with the Department of Housing, developers, and approved housing bodies to explore opportunities to increase affordable purchase and cost-rental provision, subject to national policy, legislation and available funding.

Cllr Duncan said he was disappointed with the response, saying that while everybody recognised the need for social housing, it was being prioritised at a disproportionate rate.

Meanwhile, those “who get up early in the morning or work nights in hospitals” were, he said, falling out of the loop: “The working families that can’t get social housing yet can’t afford to buy a house; the people who prop the country up are the only ones not being looked after.”

Cllr Ken Glynn agreed with Cllr Duncan: “The working person feels forgotten about,” he stated, declaring that there had not been an affordable housing scheme provided in Mullingar in 20 years, and adding that for young working people, it had become “damn near impossible” to buy in the town.

He wanted to see as much social housing provided as possible because there were a lot of people who are not in a position to house themselves – but equally he wanted to see people being able to afford to buy their first home.

Support came from Cllr Denis Leonard, Cllr Emily Wallace and Cllr Julie McCourt, who said there is “nothing affordable to anybody at the moment”.