Housing Policy in Ireland

2123 Words9 Pages
Accommodation is a basic need which all human beings require. How effectively do you think Irish society meets the housing needs of its population? Illustrate your answer with examples. The topic that I have chosen for this Social Policy essay is how Irish Society deals with the issue of housing in Ireland. As stated in the essay title, accommodation is a basic need that each human being requires. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, accommodation is included in the physical needs sector of the pyramid of human needs, and is situated at the top. “Shelter is considered one of the most basic of human needs. Adequate shelter involves a complex series of issues including access, appropriateness, quality, environment, supply/affordability, choice of tenure and sustainability” (Quin, S. 2005:51). So does the Irish Society meet the housing needs of our population? This is what I am going to evaluate in this essay. In the mid 1990’s, the demand for accommodation increased rapidly, due to economic growth, migration etc, and this demand was not anticipated and accommodation could not be provided for everybody quickly enough, as a result, house prices soared and waiting lists for housing too increased. Now, things have taken a turn in the opposite direction, because of the economic downturn, housing prices have taken a fall and many remain on the market, with no prospect of being sold. Housing Policy was introduced as a result of the problems encountered with concern to accommodation. Housing policy can be defined as “Any deliberate course of action which is designed to affect housing conditions” (Blackwell, J. 1998). According to Blackwell, Governments intervene in the housing sector for many different reasons, such as; to make the housing market work more efficiently, to support the building industry, promote different types of tenure etc. Ideally, people want to own their
Open Document