Housing Supply & Demand, Ireland 1962

With a new Housing Bill due a look back at how the 118,000 houses were built in Ireland between 1948 and 1962.
Reporter RG Rowling describes the average three-bedroom corporation house.
There’s nothing special about them... but they symbolise the finest thing that Ireland has ever done.
Colm O’Doherty of the Department of Local Government and Head of the National Building Agency outlines the developments that have taken place since the end of World War II in relation to the provision of housing in Ireland and the costs involved.
Since 1948, the local authorities have built around sixty thousand houses. In the same period, private enterprise has built fifty-eight thousand houses. There have been sixty-seven thousand houses rebuilt or reconstructed with state assistance. This construction has provided homes for approximately half a million people. The government provided funding of approximately £150 million for the public housing and the bulk of the funding for private housing since 1948. The state also pays just over £2 million a year to local authorities for the maintenance of these properties. The state also makes £2.5 million in grants for private housing. Under the Urban Slum Clearance Programme, many people have now been provided with new homes.
RG Rowling also speaks to builder Mr Forkin about the boom in the building industry. Mr Forkin says the industry is booming and we have a situation where
The demand is greater than the supply.
Mr Forkin points to the growing urbanisation of Dublin and migration as key factors contributing to the rising demand for property. He also sees the general improvement in the economy as an influential factor on the building industry as construction is dependent on the success of the economy as a whole.
If you have prosperity in the country, you have prosperity in the building industry.
There is growing demand and competition for building sites within a radius of six miles of the General Post Office (GPO) on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. The price of land has increased from about £1,000 an acre to about £2,500 an acre in the last 12 months. This will inevitably result in higher costs of housing.
RG Rowling closes this report
Well, that’s the housing story up to now. Tremendous job. Fairly well done too and a boom in the industry at the moment and a good future expected. Surely it is the best thing that we’ve ever done.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 July 1962. The reporter is RG Rowling.