Under cover of the flag protests and after many months delay, Minister McCausland has announced his intention to privatise the Housing Executive (NIHE). In a statement to the Stormont Assembly on 9 January, he set out key proposals, including: “The development of a new landlord function out with the public sector focusing on service to tenants and enabling access to private funding to allow for suitable investment”.

Stock transfer is privatisation

An elite campaign to get more people evicted from their homes is bearing success – for the bankers.

The campaign began in August 2012 when Davy Stockbrokers issued a report on mortgage arrears and stated that ‘an increased number of repossessions is desirable to help unlock and add transparency to the illiquid housing market.’

In other words they wanted more evictions.

Later, Fiona Muldoon a key figure in the Central Bank called for an end to ‘humility among bankers’ and for ‘tough-minded’ decisions to deal with arrears.

OVER 400 PEOPLE REMOVED FROM COUNCIL HOUSING
HOUSING CAMPAIGN TO PROTEST AT DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY 6PM

The mortgage debt crisis has worsened again.
Central Bank data at the end of June showed that 55,763 families were in arrears and in danger of being thrown out of their homes by the banks.

Fund House-building programmes not Tax-cuts for the Rich.

In June, the Government announced that from now on there would be no more council houses built. Delivery of social housing will be by an extension of the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and long-term leasing.

These schemes will see councils rent a house at market value from a landlord and use it to house someone from the housing list.

Government Abolishes Council Housing to bail out the banks again …. and no one is saying a word.

A directive issued to local authorities by the former Fianna Fail minister for Housing, Michael Finneran, will mean new income threshold limits for those eligible to qualify for local authority housing. The directive, called the “Social Housing Regulations Act 2011”, was one of the last actions of the former minister.

The provision of social housing and the various other social housing supports provided by County and city councils across are set to be severely reduced with strict curtailments being introduced on who qualifies for social housing in what are the most significant attacks on the notion of social housing since the foundation of this state.