Eighty-three percent of Dublin Live readers believe that the Government is not doing enough to address Ireland's housing crisis.
2,980 readers responded to our survey, where they were asked to what extent they agreed with the statement "The Government is doing enough to address the housing crisis."
2,197 (74%) of respondents answered that they completely disagreed with this statement, while 281 (9%) said that they somewhat disagreed.
138 (5%) readers said they completely agree and 225 (8%) said they somewhat agreed. 112 said they that neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
Many respondents shared their personal experiences of dealing with the housing crisis.
One wrote: "I am having to consider studying abroad in the EU where it is cheaper, as opposed to Ireland where I'd prefer to study, but Ireland is becoming increasingly expensive for young people. The youth are not being looked after."
Another said: "Breaks my heart that my two children who are working in low paid hospitality jobs will never ever be able to afford to buy a home. I am 65 and my one fear is that they may become homeless at some point after I've gone, the way things are going."
Readers were also asked to give their opinions on a number of measures that have been suggested to tackle the housing crisis.
Asked "Should the Government introduce rent caps to bring down the cost of rent?", 2,435 (82%) said Yes while 330 (11%) said No.
Asked "Should the Government issue a total ban on the purchase of property by 'Vulture Funds'?", 2,489 (83%) said Yes while 255 (9%) said No.
Asked "Should the Government seize long-tern vacant and derelict properties to increase housing supply?", 2,394 (80%) said Yes while 293 (10%) said No.
A number of respondents also elaborated on their opinions of these measures, including one who said: "Rents are already astronomical so they need to be reduced not just capped. We need true social housing built by the state to end the housing crisis where you pay rent according to your income."
One reader stated: "[We need] more social housing similar to that provided in Germany/Austria/The Netherlands. We seem to be following the British model of market influence and it is failing miserably."
Another wrote: "The Government needs to ban vulture funds from purchasing large volumes of houses. New estates open up, we express interest in buying a house, next thing we know, a private company has bought 300 of them. How does one buy a house when this happens?"
Some readers expressed their own ideas on how to address the housing crisis, such a one person who said: "By encouraging workers to relocate to rural Ireland and work remotely, where applicable, the Government could go a long way towards alleviating the housing crisis and revitalising regional communities. After investing so much in the Broadband roll out and Digital Hubs and the success of remote working during the pandemic, it would be a real shame to waste this golden opportunity."
Not all respondents agreed with the majority opinions, however.
One reader said "I believe interfering in the free market with rent cap rules and the rules regarding social affordable housing is fundamentally causing more issues than it's actually solving."
Another simply wrote: "I'm happy with how the Government is doing in very difficult times."
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