The housing market and owner occupation in Ireland

One of the most defining features of the Irish housing system is its relatively high rate of owner occupation and the consequent overshadowing effect of this on other tenures. According to the 2002 Census returns the rate of owner occupation in Ireland stood at 77 per cent, while the other tenures ' private renting and social housing - represented approximately 11 per cent and 7 per cent respectively (Central Statistics Office 2004b). The current imbalance in the Irish housing profile is the outcome of particular political tenure strategies pursued since the foundation of the State in the early 1920s. The pursuit of these strategies has had the effect of favouring the development of owner occupation, through a variety of both direct and indirect measures, as the preferred housing option for the majority of households in the community. The knock-on effect of this has been to constrain the size, role and effectiveness of the rental tenures in offering credible alternative housing opportunities to the population. This chapter considers a number of themes related to the owner occupied sector in the Irish housing system. These themes can be summarised as: the direction of housing trends since the formation of the State; an overview of direct and indirect state supports for owner occupied housing, an examination of schemes which focus on enabling low-income households access owner occupation; and finally a commentary on the phenomenon of house price inflation in the Irish housing market in the 1990s and the implications of this for the housing system.