Reports which show the supply of new homes to rent and buy continues to fall well below demand in Ireland has prompted a call for action.

Published earlier this week, the Daft.ie rental report highlights how counties such as Sligo and Kerry are facing double digit rent rises, which is coupled with an increasing lack of supply.

The CSO House price report also shows that house prices have increased by 6.9% annually across the state. Prices are rising more rapidly outside Dublin, with prices 7.4% higher.

Responding to the new reports, Sinn Féin representative Eoin Ó Broin TD has urged the government to "to pump prime home construction recovery".

Teachta Ó Broin said: "The housing crisis is getting worse and Covid-19 and its impact has placed increased pressure on both the rental and homebuying market. This impact is particularly strong outside the commuter belt and in our provincial towns and villages.

-- Advertisement --

"Government must intervene to pump prime the recovery of the residential construction sector. We need both supply and affordability. The best way to achieve this is through a major increase in the direct delivery of public homes on public land to meet social and affordable housing need. 

"Government must double capital investment in social and affordable housing in Budget 2022. It is not just Sinn Féin saying this. The ESRI, the NTMA and others have called for the government to increase capital spend in public housing. 

"We need to deliver at least 20,000 public homes per year. A mix of social, cost rental and affordable purchase. Sinn Féin has demonstrated how this can be done. 

"Darragh O'Brien has been in office for more than a year and we still have no plan. He is wasting valuable time that renters and prospective home buyers simply do not have. 

"The scale of this crisis is such that the dithering we have witnessed from the government cannot go on. We need to see a fully funded plan with ambitious targets that will both offer hope and that will have a real positive impact for affordable supply."