Limerick auctioneer warns that middle-income people not supported enough in housing market

NEWCASTLE West auctioneer Charles O’Brien has urged Government to do more to help middle-income earners get on the housing ladder.

The businessman, based at Maiden Street in the town, has revealed he has turned down a deposit on a home from a buyer because he knew they would not be mortgage approved.

“The middle-income people are not being supported enough to buy houses, and that is one of the biggest problems in Ireland. People will go to the bank, and they are not being granted the mortgage as their income is not enough,” said Mr O’Brien.

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He made the comments in the presence of the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and local TD Niall Collins.

The pair were at the ribbon-cutting of the new Woodfield Manor development in Newcastle West, for which Mr O’Brien is the sole agent on.

“There is no point in us having houses here if we cannot sell them. So we need support from the Government for the middle-income people. They want to buy houses, they want to be out of a rental situation,” the auctioneer added.

“I had a person last week who wanted to put down a deposit on a detached house. I refused to take the deposit because he was not mortgage-approved. And he will not be mortgage-approved,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin said villages are being “decimated” in numbers due to the lack of affordability of homes.

Nowhere is this more apparent, he said, than on the GAA pitch.

“It’s sad to see nine, 10, 11 young lads on a panel, where we should have one team with 16, 17, 18 and 20. But it’s because we haven’t got the populations in villages,” added the Abbeyfeale man, who captained Fr Casey’s GAA.

Mr Collins said Government has poured huge resources into the social, affordable and cost rental market.

“And that’s all very important. But the private market is equally important as there are loads of people out there in our community and right across our country who are creating a pent-up demand for private housing. The conditions for private sector investment have not been correct in this country. We’ve been scaring away private investors. And this is driving up the cost of construction, acting as an inhibitor,” he explained.

The Fianna Fail TD wants to see more awareness around Government schemes to support buyers. One programme he believes needs to be advertised better is the first home scheme, which bridges the gap between what a buyer is mortgage approved for, and what the purchase price of the home is.