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'Affordable' housing to revive market

Desperate builders develop social conscience? 

Housebuilder McInerney Holdings has warned it is facing difficult conditions in both its Irish and UK markets and that, as a result, it is delaying new site starts and focusing on its affordable

and social housing operations, which continues to perform well.

At its annual general meeting in Dublin last week, the company said the affordable and social housing sector was performing well and the company said it planned to seek growth from this area.

Meanwhile, the north's minister for social development, Margaret Ritchie, has said that of the 40,000 empty houses in the north, 4,000 could be occupied immediately. 

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (and presumably soon to be Fianna Fáil) minister also seems to want to help putative landlords, saying owners whose properties needed major refurbishment would be receiving letters outlining what improvement grants were available.

This journalist who happens to be familiar with the north can't help but wonder why Ms. Ritchie didn't suggest people take matters into their own hands and start squatting, as was once the only way to actually get a house back in the 1960s.

Last modified on Monday, 19 May 2008 12:56