Affordable housing question

flogen

My Girlfriend and I are currently living abroad (UK) studying and will be back in Dublin this summer.
We are both certain that we want to live together when we get back, and the sooner the better (the idea of living with our parents for any length of time is a drag to say the least). However we are not willing to rent and would rather bite the bullet and save while at home instead of losing money that could be going towards a deposit.

Anyway, it was suggested that we put our names down for affordable housing now and so get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. The thing is, after looking at the criteria, the issue of us not working in Ireland is a problem. I mean, will we need to be working here before we can apply at all or will they make acceptions for students in our situation?

I will try and contact the local authority asap, but I'm just wondering if there's no hope and if we should just wait until the summer, when we're working here again, before we even try and apply?

Thanks

Victor

I think apply with your parents address, it being your normal place of residence but specificly state you are currently in college, in the UK, but will be back in a few months.

How happy are you that you will get work that will pay enough?

flogen

Victor wrote:

I think apply with your parents address, it being your normal place of residence but specificly state you are currently in college, in the UK, but will be back in a few months.

How happy are you that you will get work that will pay enough?

I wouldn't say I'm certain of anything, but I do plan on getting some type of job within a few months of my return, even if it isn't related to my studies, just to pay my way etc.

hmmm

Why are you not willing to rent? Why do you expect the taxpayer to subsidise you buying a house?

flogen

hmmm wrote:

Why are you not willing to rent? Why do you expect the taxpayer to subsidise you buying a house?

Affordable housing is there to help people get onto the property ladder, it will certainly be an option for my girlfriend and I, however it's not the only thing we'll be looking at.

I am not willing to rent because I don't see the point in paying a landlord money every week that I could be saving for my own house. If I'm paying rent (at todays prices) it would take much longer to get the money together to buy.

I already said I'm willing to wait it out and save, if my options are get a house the minute I get home and rent or wait a year and buy, I'll choose the later.

Victor

hmmm wrote:

Why are you not willing to rent? Why do you expect the taxpayer to subsidise you buying a house?

I'm a renter on modest income, why should a rich person get huge tax reductions on their mortgage when I only get a €300 tax credit.

Everyone buying a house gets subsidised. All flogen is trying to do is provide for himself & his. He'll still end up paying a few hundred thousand for his property.

Its a hand up, not a hand out.

krd

Victor wrote:

I'm a renter on modest income, why should a rich person get huge tax reductions on their mortgage when I only get a €300 tax credit.

Everyone buying a house gets subsidised. All flogen is trying to do is provide for himself & his. He'll still end up paying a few hundred thousand for his property.

Its a hand up, not a hand out.

I'm also a renter on a modest income. I refer to my landlord as that big fat parasite with an awful wife.

My house is mostly made of cheap card board (the separating wall with the neighbours is cheap uninsulated plaster board -- you hear everything -- and I mean everything).

If you want a better quality of life stay out of the country if you can.

flogen

krd wrote:

I'm also a renter on a modest income. I refer to my landlord as that big fat parasite with an awful wife.

My house is mostly made of cheap card board (the separating wall with the neighbours is cheap uninsulated plaster board -- you hear everything -- and I mean everything).

If you want a better quality of life stay out of the country if you can.

Yeah, that's why I'm avoiding renting. The landlord we're dealing with in the UK is a bit of a freak as well, I don't think I could deal with him if I didn't know it was a very temporary situation.

As for staying out of the country, no chance. I'm a dubliner!

muffler

hmmm wrote:

Why are you not willing to rent? Why do you expect the taxpayer to subsidise you buying a house?

Thats a helpful comment. Is he breaking any law here.

A Dub in Glasgo

Dublin is not for affordable housing. I do not know where in the UK you are but Dublin is about as expensive as it gets. Monopoly money for property which is one of the reasons I am still in Glasgow!

flogen

I'm in Wolverhampton. Frankly I'd rather live in my own anus.

LegacyUser

hmmm wrote:

Why are you not willing to rent? Why do you expect the taxpayer to subsidise you buying a house?

That is complete bull!! What are you on!! The OP is right! Why waste money on rent when they can buy. If they need to go for affordable housing then, GREAT!!!


Taxpayer subsidising?? Where are you getting that from?? Rent is a waste of money. Worse than flushing money down the toilet. I rented before buying - down the toilet, flush .. toilet duck ... flush .... toilet duck ... flush .... rent is a waste of money ... invest in your future .. cop on ...

OP congratulations - you are thinking of your future!!!!!! Best of luck with it - pay your own mortgage and not someone else's mortgage

flogen

bubby wrote:

OP congratulations - you are thinking of your future!!!!!! Best of luck with it - pay your own mortgage and not someone else's mortgage

Thank you, hopefully it will work out!

I'm hoping to contact the city council within the next week (before I go back) and I'll let you know what they say to me about not having income etc.

LegacyUser

Flogen, if you can afford .... then do it now .... rent is waste.
I really wish you the best of luck ...

I rented for a while and then bought (for a year) .. hate to have wasted more. 100 % mortgages .. .. if you have a career on the way.. get on the skateboard ... don't waste on rent if you don't have to.

B

madramor

flogen wrote:

Thank you, hopefully it will work out!

I'm hoping to contact the city council within the next week (before I go back) and I'll let you know what they say to me about not having income etc.

1: you will not qualify
* Applicant(s) must be First Time Buyer(s).
* Applicant(s) must be working in a full-time permanent capacity for at least 6 months prior to making an application.
* Income must be sufficient to support mortgage repayments.
* Evidence of a savings record in the sum of €650/€750 per month over a 3 month period prior to application. This level of savings must be maintained until Final Loan Approval issues. In the case of applicants living in the family home and paying “Keep”, this is not reckonable as part of a savings record.

2: i'd say they have a waiting list and they score people like they do with council provided housing.
ie(people from the area, people with families, etc..)
not people who arrive home and want a house waiting for them.

flogen

madramor wrote:

1: you will not qualify
* Applicant(s) must be First Time Buyer(s).
* Applicant(s) must be working in a full-time permanent capacity for at least 6 months prior to making an application.
* Income must be sufficient to support mortgage repayments.
* Evidence of a savings record in the sum of €650/€750 per month over a 3 month period prior to application. This level of savings must be maintained until Final Loan Approval issues. In the case of applicants living in the family home and paying “Keep”, this is not reckonable as part of a savings record.

2: i'd say they have a waiting list and they score people like they do with council provided housing.
ie(people from the area, people with families, etc..)
not people who arrive home and want a house waiting for them.

Yeah I figured as much, but couldn't see anything solid on it.

Also, I had no plans to come home and expect a house there and then, I just thought that this is something I should be thinking about now rather than 6 months down the line (especially if it means delaying everything by 6 months in the future).
I also know that they give preference to people living in the area, both myself and my girlfriend have lived within what is now Dublin City Council all of our lives, I doubt us moving to the UK for a total of 9 months for educational reasons would take too much away from that.

LegacyUser

Flogen ............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not saying anymore!!!!!!!!!!
Apply!! Get going!!
If it fails this year .. apply next ...keep applying ... until you get
a mortgage that you can afford (while being able to live comfotably).

Thumbs up for you thinking about this so soon after college.
Don't let negative people prevent you from checking with your bank.
How do they the know???? Another question, how do you now?
Banks can be amazing.

flogen

Cheers for your support bubby, I still plan on getting info from the council and doing what I can at this point, once I return I'll push things further too.

Don't worry, I'll only rent if I have to and that would be in the most extreme of cases.

If I can apply now I will, if I can't I'll get back, get my job (wherever that may be) and then apply at the soonest possible point.

LegacyUser

Sounds good

Victor

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Dublin is not for affordable housing. I do not know where in the UK you are but Dublin is about as expensive as it gets. Monopoly money for property which is one of the reasons I am still in Glasgow!

There is a specific concept called "Affordable Housing" for people on lower incomes that want to buy instead of renting. Essentially, in a new housing scheme, the developer must contribute a portion of the land to the council for free. The council then builds on this land and sells the houses for the construction cost + overhead, i.e. Flogen would get his land for free. This can be combined with shared ownership loans, etc. to make the property even more affordable.

It means that people that would traditionall have been dependent on council housing are providing for themselves, with much less call on council funding (which in this case is a revolving fund, essentially self-financing).

hmmm

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

Victor

hmmm wrote:

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

No the only cost to the local authority is in administration.

flogen

hmmm wrote:

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

As Victor points out it doesn't cost the taxpayer anything really, the land is given to the local authority and the house buyer pays for the building.

If anything there is a huge potential for the council to make a profit. If a buyer decides to sell within 10 - 15 years of their purchase they have to give a slice of their profit to the council.
well that's my understanding of the situation anyway.

coolhandluke

hmmm wrote:

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

It's actually the other people in the estate that have subsidised the houses, because you can be damn sure it didn't come out of the builders pocket.

hmmm

coolhandluke wrote:

It's actually the other people in the estate that have subsidised the houses, because you can be damn sure it didn't come out of the builders pocket.

Of course it is - the cost of the affordable housing is simply added to the cost of the houses that us poor schmucks have to pay for. Some people seem to think that these subsidised houses materialise out of nowhere and costs no-one anything.

muffler

hmmm wrote:

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

You have an attitude problem.

Go off and complain to your local TD (they are the people who make these regs.) about how you as a hard working person are expected to subsidse someone else in getting a house at a cheaper mortgage rate.

If you count it all up at the end of the day that person will still have to pay the same as me or you to own their house outright.

Dont forget to mention that you are also subsidising the likes of the childrens hospital with your taxes. Going to complain about that too?

flogen

hmmm wrote:

Of course it is - the cost of the affordable housing is simply added to the cost of the houses that us poor schmucks have to pay for. Some people seem to think that these subsidised houses materialise out of nowhere and costs no-one anything.

You don't have to pay for anything, you're as entitled to the scheme as anyone else, unless your income is quite high (40,000+).

I have to agree that you do have an attitude problem. The fact is that these schemes are needed in Dublin (and Ireland in general) because first time buyers are having difficulty getting onto the property ladder. I'm not too concerned that a construction company has to give over some of their land, the reality is they have been making a lot of money as it stands. If they try and push the price up on their other houses to compensate for the money they'll miss on the affordable housing land then the customers won't pay it.
I've already stated that Affordable housing is just one of the options I'll be considering, the only thing I've written off is renting because it's a waste of money IMO, I'm happy to live with my parents rather than rent (for the time being at least).
These schemes exist for a reason, just like everything else.

LegacyUser

hmmm wrote:

Affordable housing schemes are house purchases that are subsidised by the local authority (i.e. the taxpayer). If someone can afford to rent, I don't see why I should be expected to subsidise them to purchase. Why isn't there an "Affordable BMW" scheme? Seeing people who can perfectly afford to rent expect me to subsidise them because they want to buy property makes my blood boil.

Hmmmm has a bit of a point though.
If people can afford rent, then they can afford the mortgage??
The only problem they have is that the bank will not give the loan.
Therefore the government should have another schema inplace for those people, in the form of a loan - a government mortgage.

Hmmm's point may have been put accross bluntly .. but he has one.

flogen

bubby wrote:

Hmmmm has a bit of a point though.
If people can afford rent, then they can afford the mortgage??
The only problem they have is that the bank will not give the loan.
Therefore the government should have another schema inplace for those people, in the form of a loan - a government mortgage.

Hmmm's point may have been put accross bluntly .. but he has one.

That's a fair enough point, I mean I still don't know what kind of income to expect when I do get a job, the industry I'm moving into is very muddied in that respect.
I don't know for sure if I will be able to afford to rent, or if a bank will give me mortgage approval, I'll only know that when I get a permanent job

Nevyn

bubby wrote:

Therefore the government should have another schema inplace for those people, in the form of a loan - a government mortgage.

The affordible housing / shared ownership mortguage is that scheme.

coolhandluke

bubby wrote:

Hmmmm has a bit of a point though.
If people can afford rent, then they can afford the mortgage??
The only problem they have is that the bank will not give the loan.

How do you work this out ??
I know properties selling for E300,000 only renting for E850pm.There's properties all over dublin now on sale,for a lot more than what they'll get in rent if you take out a mortgage to buy them.
The bank won't give them a loan cos they can't afford it and these days you really can't afford it if the bank won't give it to you,cos there throwing money out.
Your mantra that rent is dead money is not exactly the true picture.

Trampas

How much will you earn when you get back??

The income test
Single income household
If your gross income (before tax) in the last income tax year was 36,800 euro or less, you are eligible.

Two income households
Multiply the gross income (before tax) of the higher earner in the last income tax year by 2.5 and add the gross income of the other earner in the last income tax year. If the answer is 92,000 euro or less, you are eligible.

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/housing/buying_a_house_or_flat/affordable_housing_scheme.html?search=offordabl+housing

flogen

Trampas wrote:

How much will you earn when you get back??

I really won't know until I get back. I would venture a guess that between my girlfriend and I we would be below the limit. I'd be almost certain that individually I/she would be also, but I could be wrong.
If we are earning too much to be eligible then it would probably give us a better chance at being suitable for a mortgage (every cloud has a silver lining!)

coolhandluke

Even if you do meet the criteria,it's a lottery then anyway.I think you have to pay a non refundable e100 as well.I know 2 people who were going to go for it,decided it was too much hassle(i think your kind of stuck there,it's difficult to move,if your just looking for a starter home) and bought their own house instead.

MorningStar

To put a little reason on this.

Rent is a cost of a service provided anbody who thinks landlords by there nature are parasites should be banned.
Victor you should make it clear that insulting somebody becasue of a vital sevice they provide is not acceptable.

Administration of affordable housing scheme is not cheap or free. The added attempts of people jumping the schemes throught friends and family makes the scheme more costly.

OP

You appear to have contributed little or nothing to this economy I can't see any reason why you should be given any assistance to buy at this point and time. The restrictions are quite small so maybe you do it then. So you know rent is payment for a service that you recieved for your payment. You wanted to live somewhere you need to pay for it. Tax is paid on rental income so of people who have contributed to this economy, a landlord would have paid more tax than you have.

flogen

MorningStar wrote:

To put a little reason on this.

Rent is a cost of a service provided anbody who thinks landlords by there nature are parasites should be banned.
Victor you should make it clear that insulting somebody becasue of a vital sevice they provide is not acceptable.

Administration of affordable housing scheme is not cheap or free. The added attempts of people jumping the schemes throught friends and family makes the scheme more costly.

OP

You appear to have contributed little or nothing to this economy I can't see any reason why you should be given any assistance to buy at this point and time. The restrictions are quite small so maybe you do it then. So you know rent is payment for a service that you recieved for your payment. You wanted to live somewhere you need to pay for it. Tax is paid on rental income so of people who have contributed to this economy, a landlord would have paid more tax than you have.

This thread isn't about the merits of renting against buying, I already stated I don't want to rent for my own reasons, I was asking about affordable housing.

MorningStar

flogen wrote:

This thread isn't about the merits of renting against buying, I already stated I don't want to rent for my own reasons, I was asking about affordable housing.

I didn't say anything about renting versus buying. I took offense to calling landlords parasites which is what was said.

I also said I see no reson you should get subsidised housing based on the economic contribution you appear to have given this country.

So answer this why do you feel you should get affordable housing over somebody who has lived and worked in Ireland for say the last 3 years?

You might have a nice valid reason but from this thread you just seem to think you are entitled to it. If that is your only arguement you certainly won't get it. The terms and limited conditions have been stated you will be competing with single mothers and other people with some disadvantaged background and no education. A college educated couple will be seen as able to survive without any assistance

Victor

krd wrote:

I'm also a renter on a modest income. I refer to my landlord as that big fat parasite with an awful wife.

MorningStar wrote:

Rent is a cost of a service provided anbody who thinks landlords by there nature are parasites should be banned. Victor you should make it clear that insulting somebody becasue of a vital sevice they provide is not acceptable.

I think you are protesting too much, unless you are krd's landlord or the wife, you were not abused. If you were insulted, then you are too sensative.

In any case "all builders are cowboys" isn't exactly actionable. You cannot libel a class of people. If you manage to insult an entire class of people you are probably writing "An Irishman's Diary".

MorningStar wrote:

You appear to have contributed little or nothing to this economy I can't see any reason why you should be given any assistance to buy at this point and time. The restrictions are quite small so maybe you do it then. So you know rent is payment for a service that you recieved for your payment. You wanted to live somewhere you need to pay for it. Tax is paid on rental income so of people who have contributed to this economy, a landlord would have paid more tax than you have.

That said, yes, landlords do provide an important service. However, look at the subsidies offered to the property industry.

Mortgage interest relief.
CGT rate is half the income tax rate.
No property / wealth taxes.
Reduced rate of VAT on construction.
Section 23/27 type relief.
Subsidised local infrastructure.

In this light, is flogen looking for all that much?

flogen

MorningStar wrote:

I didn't say anything about renting versus buying. I took offense to calling landlords parasites which is what was said.

I also said I see no reson you should get subsidised housing based on the economic contribution you appear to have given this country.

So answer this why do you feel you should get affordable housing over somebody who has lived and worked in Ireland for say the last 3 years?

You might have a nice valid reason but from this thread you just seem to think you are entitled to it. If that is your only arguement you certainly won't get it. The terms and limited conditions have been stated you will be competing with single mothers and other people with some disadvantaged background and no education. A college educated couple will be seen as able to survive without any assistance

I don't think landlords are parasites generally, they provide a service that people seem willing to pay. I just don't want to pay for a service I don't need when paying for such will prohibit me from owning my own house.

Now, I have been (so far) living in the UK for 3 months. I will, by the summer have been living in the UK for 9 months max. Before then I have been living in Ireland and working in this country since I was 16. The fact that I needed to travel abroad to get my education doesn't disqualify me from anything, so I don't see how I differ from someone who has been "contributing" as you put it. The fact is that when I do apply I will need to have been working for at least 3 months, and have a long term contract in order to show I can continue to work. I have no expectiation to wander back into Ireland and walk into my new house. Even with affordable housing I will need to work and save for over a year before I actually get anything, so my contributions will be just the same.

Your comments about single mothers are also horribly flawed. People with dependents are given a higher priority for affordable housing.
I never said I felt I was entitled to anything, I actually started this thread to find out if I could apply or not, I'm making no demands. Also, just because I've been through college doesn't mean I'll end up in a well paying job either, to think otherwise is ignorant.
However, if the council decide that I am capable of getting a house without their help, I'm sure I'll be the first to know.

MorningStar

Victor wrote:

I think you are protesting too much, unless you are krd's landlord or the wife, you were not abused. If you were insulted, then you are too sensative.

I don't think so. The lanlord was obviously being called a parasite due to their trade and not actions of an individual. The whole discussion was saying how rent is a waste so the tone was clear.

Victor wrote:

In any case "all builders are cowboys" isn't exactly actionable. You cannot libel a class of people. If you manage to insult an entire class of people you are probably writing "An Irishman's Diary".

Builders or landlords are not a "class" of people. I never said anything was actionable but it extremely bias and unreasonable to assume an entire group of people are a fault by the mere fact they provide a service that people need.

Victor wrote:

That said, yes, landlords do provide an important service. However, look at the subsidies offered to the property industry.

Mortgage interest relief.
CGT rate is half the income tax rate.
No property / wealth taxes.
Reduced rate of VAT on construction.
Section 23/27 type relief.
Subsidised local infrastructure.

In this light, is flogen looking for all that much?

Everyone gets mortgage relief and most business get relief on business loans so nothing special there.
No idea what you call CGT.
No other business has to pay tax on appreciating asset untill sale so to bring it in would be discrimination. Plus many additional houses are pension plans.
What reduced VAT? Plus what does that really have to do with landlords?
Section relief was to stimulate growth in very select areas and benifit everybody in the areas because the government wouldn't spend the money itself. Again the building industry is not landlords.
In the old days and in most other countries infastructure is provided free to zoned areas. So subsidised what it should be free.

By adding the whole property business you are just muddying the waters.

So nothing for landlords is special to them it is business so are you going to gointo shops and demand free stuff.

flogen wrote:

Your comments about single mothers are also horribly flawed. People with dependents are given a higher priority for affordable housing.
I never said I felt I was entitled to anything, I actually started this thread to find out if I could apply or not, I'm making no demands. Also, just because I've been through college doesn't mean I'll end up in a well paying job either, to think otherwise is ignorant.
However, if the council decide that I am capable of getting a house without their help, I'm sure I'll be the first to know.

Flawed on what basis it is true they base it on personal cicumstances so nothing I have said is untrue. These houses are like hens teeth so you need to be pretty special to get them.

muffler

Just curious MorningStar but are you a landlord?

ionapaul

muffler wrote:

Just curious MorningStar but are you a landlord?

Lol...I would have thought that was fairly obvious

flogen

MorningStar wrote:

Flawed on what basis it is true they base it on personal cicumstances so nothing I have said is untrue. These houses are like hens teeth so you need to be pretty special to get them.

My apologies, I misread your comment.
I never claimed that I was entitled to anything, nor did I assume I was. If I do meet the criteria when I'm working, however, I will apply. I don't see any reason why not to, and I won't bank on anything coming out of it either.
I do think it's ignorant an ignorant assumption to make that college educated people are not going to be applicable, however. While I don't have dependents (thankfully), there's as good a chance as any that any job I get will be under the max. income limit for a number of years.
While 10 or more years ago a college education ensured a great job, that's not always the case anymore.

gurramok

MorningStar wrote:

You might have a nice valid reason but from this thread you just seem to think you are entitled to it. If that is your only arguement you certainly won't get it. The terms and limited conditions have been stated you will be competing with single mothers and other people with some disadvantaged background and no education. A college educated couple will be seen as able to survive without any assistance

Hold on a minute, affordable housing is only given out to people that work and can pay back a high mortgage whether its 80k or 150k, it's still a financial strain and similar to alot of people who get mortages from banks. You are getting mixed up with social housing.

I sincerely doubt a single mother who works can afford one of these mortages never mind myself who is college educated on less than the income limit of €36,800, would get refused a bank mortgage of 150k and cannot afford a place of my own even with a partner and how house prices go, i'd need a 100k deposit for most places in my locality.

MorningStar

gurramok wrote:

Hold on a minute, affordable housing is only given out to people that work and can pay back a high mortgage whether its 80k or 150k, it's still a financial strain and similar to alot of people who get mortages from banks. You are getting mixed up with social housing.

I sincerely doubt a single mother who works can afford one of these mortages never mind myself who is college educated on less than the income limit of €36,800, would get refused a bank mortgage of 150k and cannot afford a place of my own even with a partner and how house prices go, i'd need a 100k deposit for most places in my locality.

The point is all social circumstances are considered. Your income is part of the qualifier but your situation is key. Limited houses mean limited selection. Just like college places the points are determined by demand and not just the minimum qualifications.

If houses need 100k deposits then it is extremely unlikely there is any affordable housing there at. THe developers were allowed buy out the councils and councils were then meant to provide housing. As a general rule they didn't so no housing was provided. If the deposit is 100k and you can't afford it it isn't really "your" locality it might be where you grew up or I guess you could be renting. I think the expectation to live where you grew up is a little overblown. It might sound a bit cold but it is realistic. THe possibilty of all owning a three bed semi in a nice leafy area is in truth an unrealistic goal for all and more importantly it is want not need.

flogen

I think the idea of giving people from the area a better chance has two big advantages; 1) the people know the area, can settle quicker and will have less chance of moving somewhere they don't like and be stuck with it until they can set up and 2) to stop people just applying to every county council in the city/county/country. I mean, people would kick up a fuss if they were from Ballymun, where a lot of the affordable housing is, but they couldn't get a place because someone from the country or the other side of the city was getting it instead

gurramok

MorningStar wrote:

The point is all social circumstances are considered. Your income is part of the qualifier but your situation is key. Limited houses mean limited selection. Just like college places the points are determined by demand and not just the minimum qualifications.

If houses need 100k deposits then it is extremely unlikely there is any affordable housing there at. THe developers were allowed buy out the councils and councils were then meant to provide housing. As a general rule they didn't so no housing was provided. If the deposit is 100k and you can't afford it it isn't really "your" locality it might be where you grew up or I guess you could be renting. I think the expectation to live where you grew up is a little overblown. It might sound a bit cold but it is realistic. THe possibilty of all owning a three bed semi in a nice leafy area is in truth an unrealistic goal for all and more importantly it is want not need.

Ok, but the problem is the cheapest house/appt in my area (Finglas) is roughly 240k at moment. Thats the bottom price of the market in entire Dublin, hardly leafy.
That means for 2 people on incomes below 40k will need a massive deposit(upto 100k) to make sure they don't end up in severe debt. (35% of net wages on mortgage is considered safe), its impossible. Thousands of people are in this rut. Its double worse if your single

For affordable housing, prices start around 160-180k is just about reachable with the shared ownership scheme. even for single people. A huge deposit helps here for a small mortgage, 2 people on 150k mortgage is more manageable than 250k mortgage.

Affordable housing schemes in my area virtually all went to working people, single mothers are allocated social housing instead, mostly councing housing which were bought by the council from old people needing smaller accomodation
Failing to afford a place to live, we all might as well migrate to Donegal or something but we shouldn't have to, i am entitled to live in my own city hence more affordable housing eases hardship.(presently living at home as are so many in my age bracket (under 35s), the richer ones can rent but not afford housing of their own).