Setting the Scene: Recent Transformations in Irish Housing

For a nation somewhat obsessed with property and property rights it is surprising that there has been a comparative dearth of published material on the system of housing provision and housing policy in Ireland. Whereas, most other western European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, a sophisticated housing research infrastructures has been developed, not only in the universities but also in national and local government and the non governmental sector. Recently this gap has started to be filled, however. For example, Norris and Winston (2004) have produced a comprehensive overview of Irish ho using policy developments over the last decade, while in late 2004 the National Economic and Social Council (2004) published an analysis of housing policy with a particular focus on affordability and land policy. Despite these publications, however, it is still true to say that the amount of original primary research on housing issues is meagre and unbalanced. We know, for example, a good deal about social housing and the tenants who live in this sector (Fahey, 1999), which accounts for less that ten per c ent of all housing, but our in-depth knowledge of the owner occupied sector, which accounts for eighty per cent of all housing, is in comparison paltry.