Concerns have been raised over the rise in house prices in Co Louth.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams raised hos concerns after two reports, by Daft.ie and Myhome.ie, revealed house prices are soaring and that Louth is experiencing some of the highest growth.

Mr Adams said: "The two reports by Daft.ie and Myhome.ie confirm that house prices in Louth are soaring. Myhome.ie reports a 6-4% increase since the beginning of the year and an 11.86% increase in house prices since last year. Daft.ie concludes that house prices have increased by 12.5% in the last year and by 5% from the start of this year.

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"An earlier Daft.ie quarterly report on rents also revealed significant price increases with the average rent in Louth having risen by 14.2%.

"This is the second highest increase in the State, closely following Meath where the average rent is up by 14.8%.

"One of the key recommendations of the Housing and Homeless Committee report published two weeks ago was that the Housing Agency would make an annual audit of private construction costs and compare these with other jurisdictions.

"The Committee strongly recommended a shift in Government policy away from using the private sector to meet social housing need. Its central recommendation calls for the provision of 50,000 real social houses over the next five years.

"Increasing the stock of social housing will alleviate pressure on the private housing market while in the interim the report proposed a number of measures to help families stay in their rented homes. Specifically, it demanded that rent certainty be introduced, by linking rent reviews to an index such as the Consumer Price Index in order to provide some stability for both tenants and landlords."

(CD)