Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has this morning launched a policy document that proposes an alternative to the Land Development Agency (LDA). The Dublin Mid West TD has said that the LDA as it is currently constituted “will not solve the affordable housing crisis”.

Deputy Ó Broin said:

“In 2018 Fine Gael launched the Land Development Agency (LDA) as a response to the growing housing crisis.

“The new agency would operate as a commercial semi state and was tasked with developing public land and delivering 150,000 new homes over 20 years.

“The LDA was controversial from the start and scepticism around it only grew once the draft legislation was published and scrutinised by the housing committee late last year.

“The LDA would partner with private developers to controversially deliver just 10% social housing and 30% affordable housing on public land, the rest of the homes delivered would be sold at unaffordable market prices.

“The use of private equity finance would also hike up the price of the affordable homes, pushing them beyond the reach of ordinary working people.

“Furthermore, the LDA’s commercial activities would not be subject to the Freedom of Information Acts or the Lobby Register.

“The LDA as it is currently constituted is not the solution to the housing crisis.

“Darragh O’Brien, when he was housing spokesperson for Fianna Fáil was highly critical of the new agency.

“He is currently finalising the LDA legislation and this is a big test for the new Minister.

“Will he continue with the Fine Gael model or will he propose something new?

“It is Sinn Féin’s view that we do not need a new commercial state agency. The Government must fund local authorities, approved housing bodies and community housing trusts to build public housing on public land.

“We need large scale mixed income and mixed tenure developments to meet social and affordable housing need.

“We also need an active Land Management Agency with strong Compulsory Purchase Order powers to ensure all State land is used for the right purpose.

“We need to deliver genuinely affordable homes for working people and the LDA is not the vehicle to do it.”