Paul Murphy: Vacant Homes Hoarded as Housing Crisis Deepens
Paul Murphy argued that the scale of the housing crisis is the result of policy choices and deliberate market arrangements, not inevitability. He called for immediate state intervention to compulsory purchase vacant properties and land banks and to set up a state construction company to prioritise social and affordable homes over developer profit.
Scope of the crisis
The speech catalogued human impacts cited by Murphy — almost 11,000 people in emergency accommodation, over 3,000 of them children, hundreds of thousands living with parents because they cannot afford rent, about a quarter of a million on the social housing waiting list or in HAP or RAS tenancies, students forced to consider camping on campus, Traveller families in horrific accommodation and refugees without shelter.
Vacant homes and dereliction
Murphy pointed to official data showing over 166,000 vacant homes nationwide, nearly 50,000 vacant for six years or more, 23,000 vacant since the 2011 census and some 22,000 derelict buildings at the end of 2021. He argued these properties represent the most immediate and ecologically sustainable solution to house people now.
Planning permissions left unused
He highlighted unused planning permissions as a further block — an estimated 80,000 permissions nationally. In the Dublin area he cited a coordination report showing about 75,000 granted permissions of which just under 9,000 were completed and 18,000 commenced, leaving more than 48,000 unactivated. He also cited strategic housing development data showing almost 70,000 units granted but fewer than 13,000 commenced.
Developers and land banks
Murphy named specific developers by example, saying some firms hoard land banks while building only a fraction of permitted homes. He cited a developer with a stock valuation near €600 million with capacity for 17,700 homes and another with land for over 15,000 homes but limited completions. He criticised the market incentive to delay building to maximise profit and noted the business press reporting that the minister is considering buying dormant projects.
Policy proposals and environmental case
He urged cutting out developers by acquiring sites at agricultural prices, establishing a state construction company to deliver thousands of well-paid jobs and apprenticeships, retrofitting vacant properties with local authorities and building new homes on hoarded land banks. He argued refurbishment is also a lower-carbon option compared with building new homes, and that the state must act because the market has failed to deliver housing.
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None of this is natural, none of it is inevitable. The scale of the housing crisis in this country and how it affects ordinary people, all of it is a consequence of policy. The almost 11,000 people in emergency accommodation, over 3,000 of whom are children whose lives will be forever blighted by the experience. The hundreds of thousands of people who are stuck living with their parents because they can't afford to rent. The quarter of a million people on the social housing waiting list or in HAP or RAS funded precarious private tenancies. Students who are asking students unions if they can pitch a tent on campus because they can't afford to find a room. Traveller families in horrific accommodation and now refugees unable to find shelter having fled war. None of that is natural, none of it is inevitable. It is the consequence of years and years of aggressive neoliberal policies in housing by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party. It is all based on a policy which says that the right of all of those people to a home comes second to the right of developers and the right of big corporate landlords to maximise their profit. Fundamentally their right to do what they want with their private property to maximise their profit comes before the right of society to say no we want people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world to actually have a home. It is the consequence of commodification, privatisation and financialisation of housing that unfortunately is taking place right around the world. The issue of vacant properties really gets to the heart of it because this is the most immediate solution to the crisis that people are facing in every community, in every town, in every city across the state. There are vacant properties. It is the most immediate solution to use those vacant properties for people who need them. It is also the most ecologically sustainable solution because the house that is already built, the cost in terms of carbon emissions of bringing that up to standard and so on is very low compared to the significant greenhouse gas emissions that come with building a new home. We know that according to CSO data based on the recent census there are over 166,000 vacant homes across the country. We know that almost 50,000 of those homes have been vacant for six years or more. 23,000 of those were vacant even going back to the census in 2011 over 10 years ago. We know on top of that there are 22,000 derelict buildings in the state at the end of 2021. It is even allowing for a certain amount of overestimation of long term vacant properties. It is clear there is massive potential to immediately bring vacant properties into use as social and affordable homes for the tens of thousands of households desperate for somewhere affordable to live. The issue is for us to say no you do not have a right to leave that home vacant in the context of a housing crisis. That if you do not use it then you will lose it and the state will intervene and will compulsory purchase the home in order to make it available for people to live in. Beyond that is the issue of the planning permissions. There is an estimated 80,000 housing planning permissions granted nationally but not activated. In the Dublin area the most recent Housing Supply Coordination Task Force report for the last quarter of 2021 notes there are granted permissions for about 75,000 homes. Of those just under 9,000 were completed, 18,000 commenced leaving in excess of 48,000 unused permissions. That is almost two in every three planning permissions not activated in the middle of a housing catastrophe. The Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance collected data on strategic housing developments. By February 2022 that toxic process had granted permission for almost 70,000 units. Less than 13,000 had commenced. Even allowing for those under judicial review there are still 40,000 unused permissions worldwide. So what do we know about who is hoarding this land with planning permissions? Cairne Homes, a stock valuation of close to 600 million euros, owns land banks that could accommodate 17,700 homes. 82% of these sites have planning permission or are in the planning process. The vast majority of this land is in or around Dublin. But Cairne plans to complete just 1,500 homes this year in the middle of a housing crisis. Similarly, Glenvy Properties owns land banks for over 15,000 homes but completed just over 1,000 in 2021 in the middle of a housing crisis. Their right to sit on land to try and maximise their profit by building later rather than now is taking precedence over the need for action in terms of the housing crisis. The Business Post reported at the weekend that Minister O'Brien is now considering buying up, quote, dormant housing projects or partnering with other developers. I can imagine that will involve some handsome profit for them. Let's acquire these sites at agricultural prices now, cut out the developers, cut out their profiteering and start direct building by the state and local authorities. I don't understand what the government is waiting for. We are in the middle of a housing crisis. We need a state construction company to deliver all of this, providing thousands of high-quality, well-paid jobs and apprenticeships, working with local authorities to prepare and retrofit vacant properties for occupation, and to build new homes on the land banks which are currently being hoarded. The market which this government defends and allows to rule has failed to deliver housing completely for a very long time now. The State must step in and do what the market will not.
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