Ireland's housing crisis in a nutshell

We examine the particular housing circumstances that exist in Killarney, through the lens of one specific planning case.
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#housingmarket #housing #housingcrisis #killarney #kerry #planning #nimby #ireland

[@polysee]

This development was approved by An Bord Pleanála on 12/11/2024. Here’s to humans and commuting Lesser Horseshoe Bats living in harmony

[@EmmetFurey]

Now let's wait for the Judicial Review...

[@AbdulMunimKazia]

Plans submitted in 2017, to be refused in 2022. Even without the crazy objections and refusal, a 5 year timeline to just to get planning approval for a housing estate is bad enough.

[@Baarsish]

I agree, those timelines are far too long. One of the few good things about the new Planning & Development Bill is that it puts hard limits on these timelines for planning authorities. But the bigger issue is that the majority of planning approvals never are commenced by the applicants. The planning system is often used as a device of speculation.

[@brokencat2662]

In 5 years you can dig a foundation, put down walls, do the roof, and still have time left to do utilities. Bureaucracy makes a simple task into agony

[@AbdulMunimKazia]

@@brokencat2662 you can definitely finish building houses in 5 years, if you really want to.

[@serebii666]

@@AbdulMunimKazia You can be living in that house for 3 years by that time and that is with generous scheduling.

[@justanotherchannel4271]

The government added SHDs to An Bord Planaela’s workload and didn’t and wasn’t able to expand the capacity there. It was inevitably going to delay these applications and mean that ABP failed to meet its existing target timelines.

[@Vincent-q4q]

Nothing works in Ireland. Except Revenue.

[@Baarsish]

One of the reasons why the Residential Zoned Land Tax has land hoarders running scared. It will hopefully dislodge much development land out of speculation and into development.

[@conorkeane2932]

That's for sure. As long as the tax keeps rolling in they don't really care too much. Anyone that can't see the money washing by various connected companies of government money have their head in the sand.

[@killdamnation]

I’ve lived in 4 different western countries. Ireland works as well as all of them. Are there things that don’t work as well as they should? Of course, it’s the same in every country. Perfection isn’t really possible

[@MrTheCozzy]

And the passport office!

[@TomInIreland110]

Fastest and most efficient turnaround I ever got in Ireland for a 'public service' was a speeding fine in the post.

[@Dreyno]

An Bord Pleanála are a disgrace. The amount of cosy arrangements for friends and relatives I’ve come across would make you sick.

[@blacyc]

Nooooo, in Ireland??? no way... You would be saying nothing if You were benefiting from this kind of arrangement

[@Dreyno]

@@blacyc Is that supposed to be a point? “You wouldn’t speak about crime if you were a criminal!” Doh!

[@blacyc]

@@Dreyno do I have to explain Ireland to You Buddy?

[@Dreyno]

@@blacyc What do you think you have to explain? In your mind?

[@vonbeedle554]

​@@blacycyou cant explain dick west briton

[@bryanmcdonnell6899]

I did Planning & Sustainable Development in UCC for two years and you would nearly learn more in this video then an entire masters. Incredibly well done!!

[@dibble2005]

because we all know academics are spoofers who will never produce anything meaningful. They are too busy being boring and mundane to rock the boat.

[@Mpg972]

Such honesty about the quality of qualifications and yet so necessary for employment. I wonder why ?

[@bryanmcdonnell6899]

@@Mpg972 This video is a brilliant example of the learning that can be achieved on KZbin. That being said, planners are trained to be critical thinkers in making policy or development decision's and that can only be achieved through college learning and academia.

[@nicolasbrennan5129]

​@@bryanmcdonnell6899😂😂...i guess your being sarcastic

[@MaximumEfficiency]

they don't mention the most important subject - capping and taxing the extremely rich

[@G1r2e3e4n5D6a7y811]

so infuriating, objection culture in Ireland is so so selfish. As you say, selfish to the point of doing your own children in!

[@Baarsish]

The issue of concentrated costs and diffuse benefits is justified, but it is far from unique to Ireland. The video makes a good point about our weak Local Authorities. This is fairly unique to Ireland and a leading cause for many of our issues. Perhaps ask the candidates knocking on doors over the next few months how they are going to strengthen Local Authorities.

[@booster330]

Objections get completely ignored when "ipas" are involved. Has the penny dropped yet

[@GarthPhilpot]

@@G1r2e3e4n5D6a7y811 it is easily the most selfish culture I have encountered, and I've lived on three continents and traveled all over the world.

[@nicolasbrennan5129]

​@@GarthPhilpotinteresting...ive travelled and worked all over the world too. Your probably right 😂

[@geroutathat]

These new houses are not being built for locals, or the children of locals. They never are, ever, period. Not even in Dublin do they build for locals. Look at ringsend, heavily developed and the locals are still screaming out for places to be built. You had google and everything with huge buildings, loads of apartment blocks built, and locals got none of it. If the local wages in Ringsend are lets say 2k a month, the cheapest new build they make will be 1900 a month. The locals had to complain, complain, complain and finally they might get some new houses but it will be social housing and for lets say you me or a normal person who works hard, has a gf, looking to get married, want a house, you might lose out on them to unemployed mother of 3. If you said to the people in this area, "Your kids will be making 2k a month, they will get married their partner will make 2k a month, thats 4k, the maximum price for a 3 bed will be 2k a month, and 1 bed apartments will be maximum 1k a month. Your kids will have priority, and we will build 5% more than we need so that their kids will even have some space to grow into". Well you dont hear it do you, they get built, put on the market at a price locals cant affod, snapped up by investment funds, rented out on airbnb or to students or migrants.

[@ciarandineen4802]

I work as a planner in the private sector. As a 27 year old who cant rent due to price and lack of properties on offer, with a similar situation for buying, i genuinely believe that there are two sets of people in society, those who own houses and those who don't and your views on new builds depends on which side of the fence you're on. It will result in lower birth rates due to increased infantilisation of society, resulting in the need to increase immigration to cope with ageing population, which will continue to anger working class people. It is a downward spiral unless planning authorities grant more applications and ABP stops cowing to the 'contented class'.

[@hurbrowns5397]

I agree. I'm on the fence of non home owner. Home owners look down on people like me. I'm not saying all but I've encountered a lot of home owners smugness attitude. Especially the landlords with more than two properties.

[@Dreyno]

I think the “infantilisation” thing is bandied about a bit too liberally. People are absolutely stuck and having those who could buy a house for 3x their yearly salary basically call them children because they can’t afford 12x their salary for a house is just adding insult to injury.

[@ciarandineen4802]

@@Dreyno It's not just about buying. It could be solved if people in their 20s could rent at a reasonable price and continue to save. It's not normal for people in their 30s to still be living at home not able to rent, nevermind buy. I haven't met a single person in the same situation as me who doesn't feel infantalisesd

[@Dreyno]

@@ciarandineen4802 Infantilised means being treated as a child. Being a grown ass man who works, pays tax, votes etc. is not infantilised because they can’t afford a house. They just can’t afford a house. Unless they stay at home and have their parents meet their needs and have no income of their own, they are not being infantilised. Hell, multigenerational homes were the norm in Ireland and much of the western world until 50 years ago.

[@avancalledrupert5130]

​@@Dreynonot owning a house means not starting a family. So yeas it infantalises you. Your basically forever 21 in a bedsit . I'm a 40 year old 21 year old engaged to a 32 year old 21 year old. My life hasn't changed in 19 years . Most frustrating thing is I'm a carpenter. Ive spent all that time building houses.

[@TheKamilkrawczak]

I was always sure Polish planing and building laws are insane and absolutely moronic...than I planned to build house in Ireland. I'm surprised that Ireland has any building standing.

[@peterhoulihan9766]

I hope you're planning to go home to Poland at some point. I'm sure you're a nice guy but the vast numbers of foreigners here are destroying the country. There's just too many.

[@frank474]

Can't thank you enough for these videos. While I live in Northern Ireland, it's great to have a detailed understanding of why housing is so bad in the Irish state. It's a great balance of being informative while also compact.

[@P5YCHO1192]

It's so sad to see Ireland in the state it is in, 30 years old, working a good job, absolutely no prospect in sight of moving out of the family home, as a single person, it is a travesty. I hope that we look back in shame at our current actions in the near future.

[@vonbeedle554]

we deserve worse than shame

[@irishRocker1]

can't you find a house share? isn't that what people typically do? Seems like people think they can get a job and instantly get their own place. that was never how things worked.

[@vonbeedle554]

@irishRocker1 its not how things should work in the first place

[@lyr1kn156]

The people need to stop voting in the left wing establishment. Ireland is a cesspool of far-left politicians.

[@DeBean970]

Was it common for 30 year olds to not be able to move out after years of work back then? No parents at 30 with a mortgage and kids?

[@SnakePlissken25]

If we're not doing single family zoning (which should exist, but pushed away from the centres), there should be mandatory mixed use in the developments. There's nothing more grim than just boring suburbia.

[@avancalledrupert5130]

No I like it like that. Don't want the town feeling outside the centre. Then I can allways drive around the town and have nothing to do with it.

[@A-se2ur]

@@avancalledrupert5130 it's not all about you

[@aguycalledconor]

I don't know why single family zoning exists. If someone wants to build duplexes beside a housing estate who cares. Why make apartments illegal anywhere.

[@SnakePlissken25]

@@aguycalledconor The same logic should apply to one-offs

[@irishRocker1]

@@A-se2ur lol this is the same guy in another post claiming he's being infantalised cos he has worked for 19yrs and failed to save a deposit.

[@Eoin-B]

I love the point at the end of saying the objector's children could afford to move back to Kilarney if maybe they allowed the development. That's so true. Why are you still living with housemates in your late 20s?, then simultaneously preventing any new builds in your area kind of screws everyone including the NIMBYS whose children live an hour away and cant even afford to live alone.

[@mattpotter8725]

He did state that this would reduce house prices, but having experience from what has happened here in the UK, I think this would just fuel house price inflation unless new laws were brought in so that only those from the area who don't already own their own houses could buy these new houses, this wouldn't be the case, and I have no faith in this being done because I think those running Ireland will be lobbied to not bring in these laws that are needed to make this happen. Sorry to be negative, but I've seen this happen before. I don't think Killarney is the best example of Ireland's problem. It is a very sought after location where I think houses will get snapped up immediately the moment they come on the market however many you build.

[@Eoin-B]

​@@mattpotter8725 It's not THE reason. It's A reason why we are all to blame though. I think the primary reason why nobody can afford a house in the UK and Ireland is we stopped building social housing on a massive scale in the early 2000s after literally 40 years of keeping up with the private sector on a 5-1 scale. Take 10% off the cheapest housing development out of the supply and prices will skyrocket. Society isn't to blame for that though (austerity did) and I really am only complaining about how the people made it worse rather than a select few with policy.

[@mattpotter8725]

@@Eoin-B I don't disagree that there's not enough social housing but the problem is that developers much prefer to build luxury flats and 4 bedroom detached houses because they can keep house prices high so whilst I agree with you those running house builders are complicit in this, and to be honest if you were allowed to keep house prices high so you could make yourself richer you would. The reason nobody (apart from those with high paid jobs or who are already on the housing ladder and their house prices have inflated massively) is that house prices are too high, it's a bubble that isn't easy to fix now, because if you deflate the bubble by building the houses that would bring prices down then hundreds of thousands will be in negative equity and unable to sell their houses of their circumstances change, so the only fix is to build the houses that are needed (which will bring prices down) whilst guaranteeing those that need to sell their houses with compensation if their house prices fall below what they paid for it when they bought it. I just can't see governments doing this, but I don't think governments have the money or willingness to ever build houses anymore (they will incentivise but I don't think they should be in the house building business, maybe funding social housing but not actually building them themselves). House builders will resist because they've been allowed to basically print money by constricting the market to push prices higher. I also don't think there are the personnel to actually build the number of houses at the volume that is needed without bringing people in from abroad to do this. Sure we can train up a lot of our own but you need those in charge with experience as well to bring them through.

[@thomasodonoghue9135]

Great work lads

[@connidawson4152]

@polysee I worked on this!! I was on my internship and I actually worked on the renewed planning application. The plan itself was absolutely sound and the objections were paper thin, but there was a particular issue with the strategic housing development system. It was meant to speed the process, but it removed the mechanism whereby an bord pleanala could request more information on anything. So when they got the solicitors letter they couldn't just ask the developers to do the bat survey so they could progress (this would have been an Request For Information). This meant that to give the plan permission would have opened the bord to legal challenges about environmental concerns. The SHD (strategic housing development) was an absolute DISASTER because of this one single mechanism. I dont think a single development was approved under the scheme.

[@polysee]

Thanks for the context, very helpful

[@brianmathews2926]

@@polysee Can you pin this comment to the top?

[@Belisaur]

@@brianmathews2926 nah that would detract from the "Regulation bad" propaganda he wants to sling on behalf of the construction federation of Ireland

[@wafflecart]

@@Belisaur OK boomer NIMBY

[@j377yb33n]

@@Belisaur good point

[@TheDeeMan10]

Watching this gets my blood boiling, I have 2 adult kids living at home who will be leaving this country in the near future after being well educated here, why? No housing. Does our country think we are going to decrease our population? Looking at other countries, some with 50 year development plans we must look like something from the start of the last century. There seems to be no pressure for our government to change the system but if they 'talk' about doing so, sweet FA will be done over 10 years. Nothing changes very slowly in Ireland which keeps the vested interests happy. If something doesn't greatly improve the administration of this great country it really will be down hill all the way.

[@mattpotter8725]

All governments are interested in is facilitating their developer mates in making the most profit, they too probably have their fingers in this pie as well so to me it's not surprising. Add to this the fact that everything is centralised in Dublin which really only cares about Dublin getting investment, which they can make more money from. Nothing will change until powers for things like building houses is devolved to a local or at least a regional level, but will that ever happen, do turkeys ever vote for Christmas?

[@damenwhelan3236]

Those nations with "50 years development plans" have never completed them. The politicians implement them and future politicians slash the funding. We did it here... the m50.. dublin development project..

[@TheIrishBosnian]

True points. But nobody protests. 😆 Water charges, though? Outrageous!

[@mattpotter8725]

@TheIrishBosnian I think regarding the housing it has been a slow creep upwards over many years whereas with water companies it's big increases.

[@SebBrandenberg]

Informative as ever. Wish we could build (or at least try to build) city streets, parks, squares, terraces etc and not just soulless housing estates though.

[@averegeyoutuber9133]

It's a fkng joke! Not only they all look the same but also built with poor material!

[@Dreyno]

Some of the developers and architects responsible for housing estates in Ireland should be deported. For every nicely planned estate with attractive houses, there’s 20 with ugly, disproportionate boxes lined up row after row. Houses with dormer roofs but windows that don’t go above the eave, weird hipped awning roofs over windows, houses with square, picture and vertical windows in the same aspect, driveways that a car doesn’t fit in, houses with their back to the main road, houses with a potentially nice view built in such a way that you cannot see the view from your house etc.

[@avancalledrupert5130]

Why ? A detached house with parking at the front and a garden at the back is the best house . Why build anything else.

[@simonmarshall3869]

@@avancalledrupert5130 In Greystones they cost a fortune and are all the cheapest clones. For that price I just can't believe the cheek of not using 3-4 designs changes.

[@GarthPhilpot]

@@SebBrandenberg the land of can't.... Can't get a fucking thing done.

[@pergouras4260]

This is a fantastic channel! I've been trying to find a video that sums up the Irish housing problem for so long and this video offers such a succinct overview. The only thing I would add would be that a possible reason for why supply is kept low and demand high is to keep property prices high, which might be considered important to someone who regards their property as a retirement egg, investment, etc.

[@polysee]

That is part of things, but from our observations people generally seem to favour housing in the abstract - and recognise that young people need housing - but when it’s near them they become actively opposed

[@diarmaidmoloney5611]

One of the best irish KZbinrs as well as real Engineering. Every video you posted is so well done. I often highlight to others that the planned system is the biggest driver for the poor supply of Housing. Galway city council is a great example of this. It's probably the worst run Council in Ireland. Their is even a noticeable difference between the city council and country country in regards of planning. I've also highlighted that a distance limit for a new development for objections should be brought in max 10km from a development should be brought in.

[@Dreyno]

I take it you’ve never been to Sligo then? They spent the boom years putting housing estates in surrounding villages meaning people commuting in to a town choking on traffic. No public transport available from some of them. Their planning is legendary for its utter idiocy. Suffice to say, Sligo town hasn’t had a public toilet for two decades and they still draw a salary.

[@diarmaidmoloney5611]

@@Dreyno well did Sligo spend between 60 and 70 million on a new office that isn't ready yet and say the current office is more suitable or €250,0000 on a 2 benches that nobody uses?

[@Dreyno]

@@diarmaidmoloney5611 They bought a self cleaning toilet and spent almost two decades paying for it to be stored in Dublin. Almost 250k and not a pot to piss in. They eventually sold it. They also allowed almost no building in the town during the Celtic Tiger years. Sligo town has grown by about 25% in the last 50 years. Meanwhile Letterkenny has grown by 500% in that time. What they did do is give planning for numerous housing estates 10-30km from town with zero public transport but didn’t bother upgrading the roads to them. Villages that had populations of 500 are now 3X as big and there isn’t a line on the road to them. There was a problem with people loitering and drinking on benches along the river so they pulled them up before locals protested and they had to return them. They got into a lengthy court battle with two barristers about land access which they promptly lost having racked up huge legal bills. Oh, and they attempted to site a landfill dump in Europe’s largest megalithic cemetery. After a six year legal battle in which locals remortgaged their houses to fight, the lost in the Supreme Court. They also built a “bypass” right through the town. When some councillors objected, they commissioned a report which then stated that by the time they were due to start constructing it, it would already be several years out of date. They built it anyway. Also, a previous county manager didn’t “believe” in roundabouts. Just some of their lowlights.

[@Dreyno]

Oh, and part demolished a historic prison to locate a fire station in the most inaccessible part of the town that the fire brigade struggle to get out of when there’s any sort of traffic.

[@mattpotter8725]

Interesting hearing these comments because I thought one of them problems in Ireland was the centralisation of power in Dublin, but it sounds like there is probably corruption going on, that or incompetence, or both, going on at a local level as well. So how do you fix this? I still think decisions should be made at a local level, at least as to what is needed by local communities, and that apart from funding decisions housing, which should be seen as a big priority, shouldn't be able to be blocked at a national level except in very exceptional circumstances. I'm not from Ireland but love the place and have passed through Killarney, Galway, Sligo, and Letterkenny in recent years and whilst development is going on I do wonder if when houses are built that there's any thought put in as to impacts on local infrastructure and public services or whether it's just all about profit for the developers (and thus campaign funds or kickbacks for politicians).

[@darrencoyboy3]

Top class. Brilliantly put together

[@freemason4979]

I wanted to build housing for invalids / wheelchair bound, in the center of town in Hafnarfjörður Iceland. Nimbys complained and the politicians caved. I was forced to build a single family home for the rich instead. Nimbys are just pure evil.

[@JozsefBocotan]

Love these videos! Straight, direct and real! I’d love to see more of these interesting regular videos! Thank you!

[@NocFA]

Another incredible video with great sources and understanding, this channel is bloody great.

[@vallgron]

Why is it always those ugly as sin housing estates where everywhere gets a lifeless grass patch

[@YoniLavi]

If it's so incredibly difficult to get anything approved, it leaves developers only willing to risk the effort on large and dense projects, if they hope to make any money.

[@BoxRoomStudio]

They're new builds. Of course the original gardens will be lifeless grass patches. You want old growth forest or something?

[@vonbeedle554]

​@@BoxRoomStudioyes.

[@patrickdullaghan3877]

Agenda 2030. They want you all in the same place for control.

[@karstentopp]

Restrictions? Ireland? Nah, mate, not here. Ireland has the best politicians money can buy. The developers just haven't paid the Healy-Raes. Over here in East Cork, we have had a devastating flood last year in October. Now we have a big housing development in - guess where ...? - yes, in the plood plains of the Owenacurra which got flooded last year. And no, those houses will not be cheap. €500k for a house in timer frame construction... in a flood lain.

[@geetarwanabe]

I still say the best thing the government can do is ban commercial entities and foreign buyers buying residential housing. Only locals can buy homes and must prove they will live there or that it is not a 2nd home.

[@pyranna2003]

Most of us see a housing crisis. FFG & investors, developers etc see a property boom. The Irish housing crisis is a multi-billion Euro industry. The government put on a good show in pubic but the results of their policies tell a different story.

[@snazzygagagigo524]

I want to provide some more context on the species of bats associated with this development. Disclaimer I don’t think those houses should have been refused. Lesser horseshoe bats have gone extinct in a number of European countries. They are a species of bat that is very sensitive to light levels, their radar detects objects very close to them and they fly very close to objects like treees, stone walls, rivers etc to hunt and travel. They use these features to navigate. They are a species that is adapted for hunting insects in dense cluttered vegetated areas. Other bat species e.g. pipistrelles have longer radar that sees further and they hunt in open areas. Because lesser horseshoe bats don’t see very far with their radar, they use their eyes more and are the most sensitive to light of any bat species in ireland, avoiding lit areas. They are also sensitive to linear features like treelines and hedgerows being removed, and their distribution can be easily fragmented losing commuting routes due to barriers in the landscape such as lighting and a lack of treelines etc. Leading to genetic bottlenecking. Rivers are particularly important for them as they often use rivers to commute and rivers will have good foraging habitat as well. Anyhow, they still have plenty space to commute in the national park and everywhere east of the proposed development is well lit up, so it’s not like the development was blocking any way for the bats to get between the park and other areas outside of the park. It’s a shame that bats get used by NIMBYs who probably dont care about them at all to object to developments

[@polysee]

Thanks for the info

[@PatrickStefan]

Won’t somebody think of the bats? Yeah feels a bit cynical to use them as an excuse alright

[@R53Hole]

Only dark houses will be permitted, no lights allowed!

[@phoenixkali]

I had bats move into the ceiling cavity of a farm building I bought and turned into a low impact dwelling. Now council have found me out a few months shy of the 7 year rule and threaten me with enforcement. I objected on the grounds that bats are in the ceiling cavity and the wall cladding according to NPWS who paid me a visit. The barn itself passed the 7 year rule, the extra wall didn’t. So for the time being I’ll pack up the internal structure but keep the wall intact with respect to the bats until the NPWS come back with survey results which they won’t start till spring.

[@Buscolin]

Every town needs new homes and apartments. Especially 1-2 bedroom apartments. If built, single people would leave multi occupied 3-4 homes for the bigger families. Available

[@arshadameen9523]

Wow, mind blowing. Very informative video on Irelands housing crisis.

[@Whatshisname346]

Even with powers returned to local authorities what incentive do they have to develop more housing? Housing puts pressure on local services, requires road, sewage and water upgrades, causes increased traffic, puts strain on planning departments etc. and what do local authorities gain from this? They have to provide those services with zero pay off for the sacrifice. In most other countries a higher proportion of taxes are paid to local authorities than in Ireland; if there’s no financial incentive through increased tax take, it makes zero financial sense for local authorities to bother. And the meagre level of property tax, which is chopped, changed and redistributed on a ministers whim is no replacement for a proper local government tax structure. Also; four years for a planning decision is utterly ridiculous. I’m not fan of developers but no wonder they’re always saying they can’t make money!

[@killdamnation]

Don’t they increase tax take through the property taxes?

[@StepDub]

If I recall, this goes back a few decades. Local councils had extensive control over planning, but the councillors abused these powers and extracted various forms of kickbacks, brown envelopes etc. in exchange for granting or withholding permissions. It was quite bad, but was one of the few instances where cross party cooperation flourished, with a party from one constituency supporting or opposing various planning measures in exchange for reciprocal assistance from a party in a different area, so as to obfuscate any attempt to link the paper trail to its actual beneficiaries. It got so bad that central government had to step in and assume control in order to prevent local government from becoming embroiled in massive corruption scandals and losing public confidence and support. Perhaps this decision wasn’t so batty as it might seem, but was merely the result of local planning ‘traditions’ being played out at central government levels.

[@elguaje7.]

If the government allocated sufficient funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service to properly manage Ireland’s national parks such as Killarneys, then these kinds of planning objections wouldn’t occur.

[@neilmcdonnell2964]

The biggest gripe I have is with the limit on stores within the Dublin and just about every city limit. No building over 5 stores and even at that there are thousands of empty units above shops and business in every major city in Ireland.

[@theaemulator]

Where I live there was a greenway being planned, praised by locals, but..... planning was refused because some crazy bird lady decided to raise questions around some birds and..... planning refused! No greenway path with sea view.... Zero! Nothing!... A wood built path imagine!

[@Natedawg38]

Yeah just forget getting a house in Ireland. Its a betrayal.

[@liamsweeney4754]

Could you explore in and out the changes to the planning process and board that were passed in a bill last week?

[@eoghanolf]

How were we able to build 80k houses in 2006 during peak boom, with the same planning and development Bill we've had since 2000? What changed that resulted in so many homes built in the boom but not now, I know we've had SHDs in 2016 but we scrapped them. I think to reduce the housing issue down to planning doesn't cut it, I believe there's more to housing supply than just planning law

[@oliverbernards2911]

I think it might be the governments way of shifting the blame to planners when the real issue is the vulture funds/landlords and the developers willingly keeping supply low to maintain these extremely high prices

[@nomadcarpenter8549]

Eloquently put. Ultimately, we need housing, and as long as we dig our heels in over every bit of progress, rent prices will increase, and society will suffer.

[@TheWolfXCIX]

I went to Dublin and surrounding towns for the first time since your last video. The Irish hospitality was absolutely class, but the places felt like I'd gone back in time 20 or 30 years from the UK. Lots of homelessness, lots of abandoned buildings. The issues you raise were pretty clear to see.

[@RobertK1993]

Ireland way ahead the UK progressively just not as woke more homeless in the UK.

[@wholecreator3756]

Just to say, lesser horseshoe bats are the rarest species we have in this country and Ireland has one of the most internationally significant communities of LHS in Europe.

[@Art-is-craft]

So bats and government regulations get to dictate private land?

[@crossedpolars]

They stopped building social housing

[@RobertK1993]

All world Governments do it all of them get re-elected.

[@moslattara]

Thank you for the video. There is a fundamental misunderstanding from most of the population as to why we have a housing crisis, which this video helps to correct. I am a small developer and would be happy to speak with you about the issues I faced

[@polysee]

Thanks a lot

[@longiusaescius2537]

@moslattara Infinite demand and limited supply can both be true

[@chrismckenna1]

I recently did work for a hotel in Killarney that are building homes for staff because they simple cannot get housing in the town.

[@RazorMouth]

I agree 100% with sharing the planet sustainably with all the other species on the planet, but this is absolutely insane. And sadly typical.

[@tim333y7]

In austria planning is a local matter (basically done by each municipality) and here we have a push to move it to the highest level of government the national government because the conservationists complain that many municipalities allow too much building (they call it „bodenversiegelung“ basically translates to ground sealing (so that water cant seep away)) Funny to see something completely on the opposite side

[@polysee]

Interesting. Nothing is certain, maybe that will work as you have civil law, but it could easily result in the lawyers taking over - citing the undemocratic nature of that - at least a local mayor / local government has legitimacy

[@geroutathat]

No one is building for locals. You have to keep zooming out to find an advantage to most housing developments. This is true right across Ireland. Imagine a world where you had to give the supply of housing to the area that needed it and were not allowed endless expansion. You would have no choice but to knock down the old town house and build a new small, apartment block, your town house is knocked down, but now you live in the pent house and below you 50 locals, not migrants, not people from Dublin working from home looking for cheap housing, but 50 locals live. You have gone from a million euro town house to a million euro pent house.

[@pjmcgoldrick1967]

Bats? Batshit crazy, more like. The country is utterly fecked. These NIMBY nutjobs would have us still living in wattle huts. Great video, lads. I wish the government had your vision. My kids might be able to afford to live in their own country!

[@TransportSupremo]

If the next generation can't afford to live whats it all even for. We need to fix housing in Ireland, and fast

[@RobertK1993]

​@@TransportSupremo Send this to Kerry County Council and Fine Geal Fianna Fáil and Green Party.

[@fearnandubhach9677]

Great channel. Antidote to the “sure what can you do” attitude

[@Irish557]

I shared ur channel on my channel.. Great channel keep up the good work

[@polysee]

Much appreciated, cheers

[@rovenordiales]

Why is the video blurred @7:00 min mark?

[@polysee]

Another creator’s drone footage

[@diarmuid9512]

We really need new developments to be focused on existing population centres tho surely, providing rural services is already a challenge to say the least

[@rinnin]

Another brilliant video about Ireland’s shameful planning regulations and lack of foresight. Would be great if more people were interested in the Danish style cohousing model. Sustainable communities (with your own privacy if you want) and lifelong companionship for a growingly lonely population. 🙏🌍🌱 (An expat with no chance of returning to a disaster of a country)

[@ProlificLordofdeath]

But, if your local developer has a good connection to the local Teachta Dála in which case the development goes ahead regardless of the objections... and the TD gets a nice car/holiday/new house built by anonymous benefactors.

[@pablodiaz5014]

Totally agree, I see so many apartment block now overlooking houses, blocking out the sun

[@bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb546]

Which sun??

[@sb8163]

Some naive views in the comments, eg. : we "will end up with a more assertive and majority immigrant population who will demand that housing be built for them"! Really? What country has this happened in? How are the UK and US doing currently re. wealth inequality, homelessness, childhood poverty, crime, health service, social cohesion, etc. compared to a couple of decades ago? The Irish public protested a few years ago against the introduction of water charges, when was the last time a protest in England resulted in a policy U-turn? Also: "most of these immigrants live in hotels.. they do not get our houses" - and where will they live in future? Where will their extended family members live when they bring them in via family reunification?

[@soraregareth]

The production level of this video is outstanding, well done!

[@C05597641]

Bad news lads. Building homes wont reduce prices when there is infinite demand. With the amount of immigration that Ireland is embracing, house prices will remain at the highest price that people can afford to pay.Immigration comes with many pros. High housing costs is one of the cons.

[@maxthelionxmax9220]

Not in the rich areas who can afford lawyers etc… in poor areas …. Build in mass!!

[@tweeglitch]

The video begins, "If a government wanted to create a housing crisis in a town, what would it do? This is a difficult question, but in County Kerry, we may have found our answer." I'd also add that if legislators wanted to create a housing crisis, thereby keeping rents and prices high, then they have a perfect motive. Eighty TDs and Senators are landlords or landowners, with the biggest landlord in the Dáil being Michael Healy Rae, Kerry TD since 2011.

[@Kfend19]

We have strict building design regulations because of the problems of the past, such as defective apartments. Deregulation leads to lower quality housing, which won't magically become cheaper. Always be wary of someone trying to sell you a magic bullet to a very complex problem...

[@justinleemiller]

Build traditional architecture. People don’t like new ugly neighborhoods

[@phamlam3720]

If that was true, why do they sell so quick?

[@connoroleary591]

The Green Party used to have a mantra that the more roads you build, the more cars will be bought to fill those roads. Similarly with housing. In the era of mass migration, with millions of people on the move, the more houses you build, the more people will arrive to occupy that housing. We need to decide at what level of population we can sustain environmentally and socially and build for that. Otherwise we could end up incorporating Carlow into greater Dublin and still have a housing shortage.

[@AllensTrains]

You make some good points, however you skated over the fact if new housing is constructed in an area, then the children brought up in those houses will grow up to find there are no jobs for them to apply for when they leave school! In some ways, it is kinder not to build the housing and lay out the false promise of employment. Thanks for uploading.

[@iCarNaya]

Great work as always

[@SimonPearce69]

Good points well made

[@anfomhar1045]

You have to severely limit the inward flow of people, that's number one, if you sort that part out you can do your best to address supply issues, but without addressing the clusterf7ck that is endless non stop conveyer belt mass immigration, you're never ever going to solve the housing issue

[@lesseryellow]

I am all in favour of greater local autonomy for most things but I am not entirely convinced that somewhere like Killarney , probably the jewel in the crown of Ireland's natural heritage regions, can be left entirely to local business and political interests. These are the same people who wanted to install mechanised chair-lifts in Killarney National Park at one time I believe. And who generally see things like National Parks as a money making opportunity rather than as something whose primary purpose is to preserve wildlife. Killarney has long been over-developed in my opinion, with far too many hotels for such a small town. Tourism might be the biggest employer but it can easily ruin a place if allowed to. The very thing that most tourists come to see, Muckross House and the National Park, is basically hemmed in by the town on the eastern side with the main road into the park lined with hotels and guesthouses all the way to the Park gates. Blaming "bats" for a housing shortage is a bit like fishermen blaming seals for a scarcity of fish. Everyone knows that the problem is human demand. Maybe Ireland needs to reexamine it's open door borders policy first? Or is that too politically sensitive? We have already sacrificed our culture to globalisation, must we sacrifice what is left of our natural heritage also?

[@nicmcs4]

At around 12.15 they start talking about the town reducing the usage of single use cups, that’s a load of crap, the filling stations and large supermarket coming into the town still use them, Still more rubbish and green washing.

[@elismart13]

why did you have to blur the drone shots?

[@MandaClaudiuMCM]

The worst thing besides government bureaucracy with unclear outcomes are the not on my back yarders.

[@ttopero]

At 15:00: a “real home” compared to a “modular home”? Does modular housing in Ireland equate to what we call trailer or mobile homes in the U.S.? Modular housing in the USA is basically factory built that’s assembled on a permanent foundation & essentially indistinguishable from a stick/site-built house.

[@polysee]

In the video we were referring to the smaller houses we saw reported in the news. But we should have clarified - full scale modular homes are likely to cost around the same as block housing, though one hopes this cost will decline with innovation

[@Dreyno]

Developers aren’t without blame either. Sitting on land banks and eking houses onto the market to keep prices high.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

House prices seem to be way more expensive in the south than up north

[@Dreyno]

I live in a fashionable wee village about 10km from a “proper” town. Next door sold for €895k last week. It’s a 3 bed bungalow. Well, 2 and a box room. Has a nice view but that’s insanity.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@Dreyno that's insane....I bought a two bedroom timber frame house few years ago up here for 75 k in 2018....not a palace but nice enough... mortgage cheaper than renting, about 40 mins from Belfast

[@KeithRingo]

Healey Rays at it again I see.

[@j377yb33n]

Any chance you can do a video on the other side of deregulation and oversight, maybe the planning permission for an apartment block in ballisodare in sligo that's been unfit to live in since construction and was condemned before opening? Or the Mica contamination in Donegal?

[@sb8163]

My sister lives in Galway in a detached house with a large garden. Her college-educated adult children have emigrated, bar the youngest aged in his early twenties but she expects he will emigrate as he has no prospect of affording a roof over his head or to start a family. She is very supportive of the govt policy of pumping billions into providing for the upkeep of unlimited numbers of asylum seekers to live rent-free in state-provided housing with their families, as she feels that providing financial handouts to these families of free benefits, supports, healthcare, housing, living expenses, etc. to enable them to make a life in Ireland is good for the economy - because the unaffordable housing market and high cost of living have made it difficult for young EU workers to fill the labour shortages in Ireland and all the young Irish working people who can't afford a roof over their head in their own country are emigrating She will vote for more of the same from the same parties again. Sure haven't the young people always emigrated, and don't we have a 'moral obligation' to offer unlimited numbers of non-Irish families from countries with many times the population of Ireland a better future, since we are so privileged to have benefited from the struggle of our own grandparents who fought to provide a better future for us and our children in their own country after so many generations of Irish families suffered religious persecution, poverty, war, famine and emigration on coffin ships, conflict, partition, discrimination and sectarian strife..

[@buy_large_mansions]

My sister used to be like yours but not anymore.

[@Monaleenian]

At least her genes have left the country and when she dies there won’t be any of her direct kind around to perpetuate her self-harming voting policies. The Irish who recognise the problem and are digging their heels in, remaining in their country and having children are the ones that will save the country in time.

[@longiusaescius2537]

Insane

[@ttopero]

At 1:55, you mentioned that large scale plans were able to bypass local governments and submit directly to the national board. Would they normally have to get approval from the local government before they could apply to the national government?

[@GRUF__]

Yes, what typically happened before (and what it has gone back to) is that the local county council decides on the outcome. If there is an appeal to the decision then it is pushed to an bord pleanala. Then if the an bord pleanala decision is appealed, it goes to the high court. As you can imagine, this means there are insane delays in the whole process. I’m an engineer and we have 2000 houses stuck in the planning system, some 2 years waiting on a decision. If we lose, we have to do it all again.

[@greenlightzone]

Tullamore, there was a plan for a 14 story apartment building. Got rejected because the town must remain a heritage town

[@Art-is-craft]

It has nothing to do with heritage and every thing to do with market planning. No different from the idea of NAMA caused many developments to rot in the ground.

[@georgeconroy9908]

It has an immigration problem.

[@0____________0_____________0]

i live here

[@nickdelehanty]

Another excellent video. The problems are entirely political. We need a step change in policy to sort this out. Vote Nick Delehanty in Dublin Bay South.

[@biulaimh3097]

Enda Kenny borrowed 200 billion euro in order to stop house prices crashing further, back in 2012 and used the rest to pump inflation back into existing housing stock. In order to keep this new bubble from deflating as soon as all this stimulus went in, he needed to patch a few holes. In other words he had to stop houses from being sold in order to impose scarcity on the market. So, he used the courts to forgive debt rather than issue foreclosure orders which would have given buyers more choice and lower prices. He passed legislation to make the repossession of properties in mortgage default so difficult that the banks he forced us to bail out were not allowed to retrieve their properties but had to settle for less by letting foreign vulture funds have them instead. This is why we need an economic depression. If the government cannot afford to maintain it`s bubble in house prices, the market will naturally seek out true price discovery. The geopolitical shifts in the world economy are promising to shake things up, so there is reason to be optimistic if you are waiting until the housing market presents buyers with low prices again. To protect it`s bubble, the government does not want people to be aware of the real reason for the housing crisis, i.e. it`s policy. So, it pushes the narritive that it is all about a shortage in new houses. But, don`t worry. Even though everyone believes this government lie, the truth will be known soon enough for it is about to overwhelm the government`s ability to hide it.

[@leoh5405]

And then there’s problems like with the development on Ross Road on the other side of town, where building started but now it has been stopped for a few years with just the empty shells of houses. I’m not local so I don’t know the reasons behind that but you’d think the easiest way to get more housing would be to finish construction where it has already started.

[@davogrady]

Too many chefs in the kitchen. Absolute disgraceful. Too many people trying to justify their pointless roles. How are we ever gonna build anything if we care more about bat living patterns over that of where humans will live.

[@pauldublinchampion]

Who is the creator here? Step forward for multiple gold medals.

[@Levicurtis224]

Fantastic video🔥🔥! I have incurred so much losses trading on my own....I trade well on demo but I think the real market is manipulated.... Can anyone help me out or at least tell me what I'm doing wrong??

[@LincolnCooper-f2p]

Trading on a demo account can definitely feel similar to the real market, but there are some differences. It's important to remember that trading involves risks and it's normal to face looses sometimes. One piece of advice is to start small and gradually increase your investments as you gain more experience and confidence. It might also be helpful to seek guidance from experienced traders or do some research on different trading strategies.

[@EarlRoy-x1n]

If you are trading without a professional guide... Ah, I laugh, because you will stay where you are or even suffer huge losses that will prevent you from trading, this has been one of the biggest problems for new traders.

[@KateJackson-sd3mw]

I think l'm blessed if not I have met someone who is as spectacular as expert mrs Janet.. Highly recommended🙌

[@georgecharlotte2857]

Wow, I'm surprised to see Janet mentioned here as well. I didn't know she had been kind to so many people

[@InesElise]

​I'm also a huge beneficiary of her.. I thought myself and my family were the only ones enjoying Janet trade benefits

[@beckiverson1531]

They just don't miss

[@Ryan-rm6uk]

another banger from polysee, though the comparison between Ireland's planning permission and us states at 10:08 is a bit contrived in my opinion

[@polysee]

Thanks. Population wise Ireland would be a mid-sized US state, and we both have common law systems, hence we felt a comparison with US states was fair

[@proeveo9367]

@@polysee I second the dislike of the comparison between US states and Ireland, mainly because building practices in the US largely favor car centrism. I’d rather see a comparison with similar towns in continental Europe to help contextualise. That said, great video overall!

[@mrdias1866]

every country in the EU that you go you see the construction of new buildings everywhere but here in Ireland you barely see anything. How is this possible when a country like Ireland has such great GDP? totally inadmissible

[@ConamaraCounty]

I would love to see Polysee do a plan for Conamara County(yet to be formed), I love you guys!

[@ronandoyle4236]

We need to get over this "Parish Politices" approach we have in Ireland. How is any young person supposed to be able to build a life in the country with the way it is right now? Build more houses! All towns / cities across the country should have more densely populated surburbs around them, Dublin + Cork and any bigger cities should allow high rise apartment blocks if developers are prepared to build them. At some point we need to move with the future.

[@aidanmasterson50]

In Dublin the SDH has granted 11 story blocks in 2 story residential areas but refused lower in the city centre. Covid highlighted how few now actually live in the city and it became a city of the walking dead. Social issue never recovered post covid because this country is about the only country in the world that won’t do high rise family apartments in city centres.

[@sb8163]

How clever the Irish govt were to advertise their own-door accommodation policy in various languages re. offering free Bed & Board plus work-permits in Ireland to unlimited numbers of working age single men and their families and to introduce planning exemptions for buildings nationwide, plus providing rapid-build modular homes at €443k a pop on swathes of state land, so that local communities will not have a veto on tens of thousands of non-Irish nationals who can work alongside them in the Irish economy while living rent-free with all needs fully catered for! Thank you Roderic O'Gorman!

[@ds6914]

people are much more accepting of things that happen via markets (house prices go up), than happen via visible human decision (council gives planning permission for house next door)

[@irishRocker1]

12:29 "It seems unlikely that people would start trashing the national park if left to their own devices" Oh absolutely they would! Humans have a history of destroying beautiful places! Maya beach for example. Destroyed by tourists. Ayers Rock....Uluru shrimp died off from tourists urinating in the area. And all you have to do is go out for a short drive in Ireland and see rubbish dumped everywhere on the side of roads. I have heard of people in south Dublin complaining about developments in North Dublin. its a ridiculous culture. and a lot of the excuses are rubbish, but that statement at 12:29 is completely false and people would destroy the place if given the time and opportunity.

[@TheRealAgaBrady]

When I moved to Ireland over a decade ago, it wasn’t cheap, but I could still rent a room and earn my education and maintenance on a humble salary. Now the housing and accommodation prices are insane. How can young people secure a place where they can live decently and have a family? And don’t get me started on nimbism, protesting any new estate by those who already have a home. Sure, they care about their comfort, but screw the rest. They can be such patronising aholes. Seeing developments of up to few hundred housing units in places where there IS space not getting a green light because locals threw a tantrum is appalling. I grew up in a block in Poland. The estates were pretty decently designed, with green areas, shops and most of things you needed being designed into the developments. The housing units were not big, but people had a place to LIVE. Some Westerners should touch the gras, start looking beyond the tip of their noses and consider others - literally their neighbours. You had it pretty good for long and prioritise own comfy life so much, that you screw over young people and future generations. And that irrational fear of building too high apartment blocks. These exist for decades in another countries and people are fine. The fear mongering here is sometimes ridiculous. We need more houses. We need affordable housing. That’s the fact.

[@wellsmaciel]

It is always about something… tree growth , potential extra litter, bats and the worse is “ the building heights and the density are out of character with the area” Ireland needs to find a balance. You do not need to build a sky scraper but once the population have been struggling for decades to buy a house, a 5, 7 floors apartment building would not be a bad idea. Extra litter tree would be fixed increasing the garbage collection service and the tree growth.. Jesus you have a lot of fields without any tree… just plan some there and it will be fine.

[@2003Rooney]

I live in Switzerland where developments are voted on, only way to go.

[@shanegriffin3363]

Great vid

[@mattpotter8725]

Watching all your videos it is very evident that Ireland is far too centralised and decisions need to be made at a more local level. That said it made me laugh out loud when you made the statement that developers wanted the same as local people. I'm afraid this just isn't true. Developers and house builders just want to make as much money on the houses they build, and this isn't the same as what local people necessarily want either, they just want lower housing costs, whether it's buying or renting. Ireland does need more housing, affordable housing at that, but my worry is that in Killarney especially, a very tourism based area (similar to say Cornwall in England), is that all that will happen is that these houses still be bought up by investors to become Airbnb accommodation, whether these investors be Irish people with the money to buy a second home (from Dublin for example) or overseas investors. If laws were put in place to prevent this I'd be all for it, but I just don't think Irish governments would do that as they are often in hoc with the wealthy. I also think, though the number of houses being proposed for the development in the video is large enough for this to be the case, but if house building is ramped up on the scale it needs to be then the developers have to also fund the extra public services, schools, doctor's surgeries, police, and also changes to road infrastructure changes that would need to be made. Having been to Killarney many times the road system as it is often gets clogged up and more housing would just exacerbate the problem. All this said decisions do need to be devolved, but I just don't think Killarney is the most representative place in Ireland where housing is needed. As I've said in a comment on one of your videos before unless power is devolved to either new regional elected councils or at a county level then Dublin will just get bigger and bigger, it will demand more money is spent there at the expense of the rest of the country and I don't think it's possible in this scenario to stop there being housing demand problems in the greater Dublin area, there gets a limit where there's just too many people and not enough capacity.

[@polysee]

Thanks for watching and I suspect there is more we agree with than disagree with. The economic literature on this is strong - if you allow builders to build, the cost of housing will converge on the cost of construction. Yes each developer would love to make as much as possible, but so do block layers, roofers, Tesco and Dunnes Stores. Ultimately businesses are limited by competition and buyers’ ability to pay. As for schools and doctors, the council may seek to make developers pay for these also, but the cost will just be passed on, driving up the price of housing. Building housing within towns does so much for social mobility, income equality, climate change and even fertility that we shouldn’t be dilly dallying worrying about airbnb and traffic. If traffic is that big a problem, and yes it can be in Killarney, the town can introduce a modest congestion charge at peak times

[@mattpotter8725]

@@polysee You say economic literature is strong on this, but in the practice where increased housing has happened, albeit still not to the level needed, this hasn't happened, those with wealth are buying up assets, of housing is one, because it provides a better return on investment than other options, this creating a house price bubble that is exactly what this was supposed to address. In theory I don't disagree, but unless there are controls on who can buy these properties in a place like Killarney it won't be the locals buying the properties and it won't reduce prices, unless you were to flood the market, which is an equally bad idea because you leave anyone who has bought a house at the peak (meaning many ordinary people) in negative equity, owning a house or flat that isn't worth the mortgage they have on it.

[@longiusaescius2537]

Then do something like some American places where they tax non primary residences and non owner operated apartments

[@mattpotter8725]

@@longiusaescius2537 I agree with you, however we are where we are, so say you do this and say many people with second homes are forced to sell, flooding the market, reducing house prices in areas where this is prevalent, which is something I said does need doing, then those living in the areas who did manage to scrape enough together to buy their primary residence are now stuck should their circumstances change, which could be getting a job in another part of the country or just struggling to pay the mortgage and bills due to their circumstances changing, which could be due to health problems, losing their job, or many other factors. The problem does need fixing but I don't see an easy way to fix it. You, and me, might just say well house prices can go up and down and you take a risk buying a house and if you don't have to move and are staying where you live indefinitely then house prices going up or down isn't a problem, but if you do have to move what do you do?

[@McNultyoh]

Individuals should be accountable to these decisions and jobs should be on the line if you don’t do your job well