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AFFORDABLE HOUSING MYTH.
Read more about: Government, Housing 
The much trumpeted initiative of Fianna Fail to provide X thousand affordable houses is in ashes.
As they quaff their Veuve Cliquot in the FF tent at the Galway Races, the boys from Bovale
et al must be having a good laugh, as Bertie welcomes their political contributions, comfortable in the knowledge that it would be in height of bad taste to suggest that favours are expected in return.
Brian Carey in his Back Page article in the Sunday Times makes a timely reference to Gerry McCaughey & his Irish manufacturing company, Kingspan Century.
This company manufactures timber-frame houses, which are sold by the British Government for £60,000 – £70,000 under a scheme for the provision of affordable housing.
This price seems high, when compared to a proposal that hit the front page of the Daily Telegraph.
Five years ago, I wrote to Bobby Molloy, then Minister of Housing, enclosing the article wherein IKEA, the Swedish giant, were offering timber-built units of 75 square metres for £7,500. This unit was to be fully furnished from the IKEA range and centrally heated. All the Government had to supply from their vast land banks, was services – roads; lighting; drainage etc. Not exactly an impossible task for anyone willing to seize such an initiative.
AND WHAT REPLY DID MINISTER MOLLOY OFFER?
Thank you. “… there are Planning matters etc. that will have to be taken into account etc. etc…”
AND THERE IT DIED.
There is no moral in this story as Bertie & his builder friends are totally devoid of morals, in spite of his Pauline conversion to the gospel according to St. CORI.
Time for a real opposition to demand answers and to offer a costed Plan..
At last ……..
someone writing about something really really relevant
Sunday Times June 11th the front cover of the Home magazine shows the Kingspan Century timber -framed house which won a major competition set up by the British government to find an inexpensive well built environmentally sound house.
the cost is 88,000 euro
Forty five of these houses are being built on a former hospital site for the British government
The winning design is a prefabricated kit of wood, glass, and other high tech material.
It arrives on site ready to be assembled and includes fixtures fittings and furnishings
it claims to reduce energy costs by 80%
According to the Sun. Times John Prescott didnt ask the industry how cheap could they build a house he told them it had to be no more than 60,000 sterling and so it came to pass….
Well you can see why the gang in the tent wouldnt want to hear that stuff, so no one in polite company upsets them by so doing and so we roll on as before …..what a country …. i am convinced we’re twinned with Sicily
The big question as you so rightly point out is the silence with which this was greeted by all and sundry.
It is the usual goddam vested interests
Theres a group of business people here trying to break the monopoly in the cement industry
Theres the vested interests in the pharmacy business
The opposition parties should have this subject put to them because if they cant embrace this change theyre not worth a damn.
Have you a link to that ikea thing. Good post by the way
Affordable housing is a joke. The government issue a press release every few months and tell the public they will solve the housing crisis then they stick in a clause that allows the developers to legitimately buy off county councils and avoid building affordable houses.
Sometimes I think things were better under the English. At least then we knew it was a foreign power screwing us instead of the government we keep reelecting.
Simon,
The best I have on file is a letter from Leo Blenkinsop, Public Communications Assistant, IKEA UK. It is dated February 21st 2002.
I sent the original cutting, from The Daily Telegraph, to Bobby Molloy ex-TD. I actually asked him to return it to me, but…. well… what does one expect from an overworked politician?
The thrust of the IKEA letter was to thank me for my interest & to state that there were no set dates for the introduction of the system – BO KLOK – to the UK.
I will try to scan the letter & copy it to your e address.
Cool idea there is an article here about the project http://society.guardian.co.uk/keyworkers/story/0,,606148,00.html
This is the website of the company. http://www.boklok.com/ not bad looking houses.