“We cant let ideology get in the way of pragmatic policies or let the perfect be the enemy of the common good.”
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien (above) on the public-private Cost Rental Scheme.
How imperfect?
James writes:
The Housing Finance Agency (HFA) will borrow, say, €200,000, in the taxpayer’s name, and give it as a loan to an Approved Housing Body (AHB) on a low fixed interest for a 30-year-term.
The council will deliver a cheap, serviced site. The AHB will build a home and then rent it to a taxpaying family at €1,200 euro per month, indexed linked, which means the taxpayer could pay €450,000 over 30 years.
A €200,000 mortgage could cost that taxpayer €300,000 over the 30 years with interest increases [AIB 5 year fixed]. The Government has yet to decide how or even if the AHB will repay that loan…
Anyone?