Can Anyone Afford to Buy a House in County Wicklow Today?
(October 23, 2000)
The housing situation in Wicklow does not seem to be helped by an ever-increasing Wicklow County Council public housing list. This is particularly bad in the north of the county in areas like Bray were the council's waiting list for those seeking proper accommodation has reached nothing short of crisis proportions.
Many people who would under normal market conditions never consider having to join the councils list, have now little option but to do so. An income that would have bought an average house back in 1997 is no longer adequate, and will not reach the necessary lending criteria as laid down by the various lending institutions. To compound the problem many people find themselves in a catch 22 situation in that their earnings may just be above the allotted threshold for the various schemes that could offer them a way out of their predicament.
It would appear that more and more people in County Wicklow are finding it increasingly difficult to buy a property, however modest. Much more in the way of Wicklow County Councils Shared Ownership Scheme and the recently introduced Affordable Housing Scheme need to be implemented. The Bacon 3 report and its associated recommended measures seem to be stopping the speculative section of the market and cooling down what can only be described as an over heated housing market place. The measures themselves open up various debates as to whether this will in the end help the overall situation.
However one thing is certain - the present situation cannot be allowed to continue and it is now clear that storm clouds are gathering on the horizon in the form of rising interest rates. The market place is beginning to cool down somewhat. The question is when will the average earning person be able to house themselves at an affordable price? Despite the various economic arguments, in reality, nobody really knows.
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