PD Candidate in North Kildare Cllr Kate Walsh has come out in favor of tight controls that will allow for a more equitable rental and housing market. Criticising the lack of stringent controls by successive governments , including her own, Cllr Walsh says that if the current situation of spiraling house prices and rents is not tackled we will see increasing pressure to increase wages, and warns that in turn this will threaten our economic competitiveness.
"As a society we have really not served the interests of future generations. The politicians in the last Dail lost sight of the ball when they allowed house prices and rents to get out of reach". Canvassing in Naas, Kate was met by young couples who are struggling to raise the funds to buy their first home. Caught in the trap of paying high rents they find it difficult to gain a foothold in the housing market.
"I am critical of the fact that none of the parties in the last Dail, including my own, tackled this problem effectively", says Kate. "This effects the communities in Leixlip, Maynooth, Celbridge and Naas, with more and more people having to rent and therefore not having the same stake in the local community. Everyone deserves a home, it is one of the most basic tenets of any decent society ". Kate Walsh is radical when it comes to meeting the needs of people and she has committed herself to ensuring that the Progressive Democrats in government would extend the provisions for Shared Ownership Schemes to help families into the housing market and would control the private rented sector.
"A responsible society is one that looks after people and rewards initiative", says Kate, " people need to know that the roof over their heads is secure, that they have some asset value for the money they are spending on rent, and that they can afford the costs of accommodation. We can create a scheme which enables people who rent to have security of tenure, to be able to put aside some of the rental against future purchase and to know that rents are kept to a manageable level."
