Fianna Fail are “repeating the mistakes” of the Celtic Tiger with new Government housing plans, Sinn Fein's Eoin O'Broin has warned.
Sinn Fein's spokesperson for housing has opposed the Government's affordable housing strategy along with many other TDs.
The shared equity scheme would see the Government taking on a stake of up to 30% in a house where purchasers can’t afford the full mortgage.
This will allow first-time buyers to purchase homes costing up to €400,000, but with different price caps in different areas.
But Deputy O'Broin said a shared-ownership scheme was introduced at the end of the Celtic Tiger leaving around half of people who availed of this scheme experiencing “significant mortgage distress”.
He also mentioned the plan in place is based on a very similar one that has been in place in England and Wales for the past 10 years which has actually pushed up house prices in high-demand areas.
The Dublin Mid-West TD told Newstalk: “This is a developer-led scheme - this is bad, Celtic Tiger era housing policy and should be scrapped.
“This is just the worst kind of developer-led policy and when we know we can build and sell homes for €250,000 or less… why would you even contemplate such a risky scheme, other than to appease your friends in the developer and investor industry?"
He noted the ESRI, Central Bank and the Institute of Professional Valuers and Auctioneers have also raised concerns about the scheme, along with opposition politicians.
He said: “The concern here is that the shared equity loan scheme is not about making homes more affordable.
"In fact, this scheme was designed by two property industry lobby groups last year - I know because they did a round of meetings with housing spokespeople, myself included, to argue for this scheme.”
Sinn Fein is now putting forward a motion to scrap this scheme.
They hope to put the funding into the “direct delivery of good-quality affordable homes" instead.
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