THE FACT OF THE MATTER
BY PAUL HOPKINS
There’s a terrible irony that thousands of homes remain vacant despite a national housing crisis. New figures show that close to 81,000 residential properties were vacant in the final three months of last year. This has barely changed since the same three months in 2023, according to figures from An Post’s data company GeoDirectory.
Dublin had the fewest vacant residential properties, while Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon recorded rates as high as 12%, with Kilkenny at just 3%, and Carlow at 2,5%.
Nationally, there are 2.17 million residential properties in the State. This means the 80,689 vacant homes represent 3.8% of that total.
Amid all this housing crisis – the cost of a typical home has jumped €200,000 in a decade – there’s a small glimmer of hope, though it is no panacea in the long run. However, if you, like so many, have had to move back in with the Ma and the Da, for reasons we all know too well, there’s a good chance going forward that you could find a bit of peace and quiet down the bottom of your parents’ garden.
Cabin-style homes – sheds, let’s be frank here – in back gardens are to be exempt from planning rules under new Government proposals. The homes can be rented out or used by relatives of the main dwelling’s owner. They could also be a realistic downsizing option for some people.
Minister of State at the Department of Housing John Cummins has met officials to look at how building certain types of exempted properties can be sped up under new planning laws passed last year. Under current rules, extensions of up to 40 square metres to the rear of a property are allowed, once they are attached to the property. New regulations would remove the requirement for the add-ons to be attached to the main dwelling.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in May 2024 the average age of purchasers with a mortgage was 33 to 37. The 2022 Census told us there were 440,000 young adults living with a parent, according to Gerry Reilly, a senior statistician at the CSO. That accounts for 41% aged between 18 and 34. That figure was 32% in the 2011 Census. According to the CSO, financial factors were the main reason for still living at home – 62% of young adults in full-time employment. Interestingly, 16% said money was not an issue.
Whether they were at home looking after ageing or unwell parents was not noted.
So, how do any of the parties feel about such a set-up? Six in 10 of those who still lived with parents said they enjoyed it, while a whopping 87% of parents said they liked having an adult child sharing the home. Also, a sense of a lack of ‘independence’ was cited by seven in 10 adult children.
And, finally, the CSO survey shows that most family disagreements centred on doing the housework and/or sharing bills.
On those issues, my psychologist friend from Magherafelt tells me: “It is vital that both child and parent respect and embrace each other’s difference. Acceptance deepens the familial connection and helps prevent frustration and misunderstanding.”
Parents ought to treat their children as adults, he advises, and by the same token the adult children should aim to contribute towards bills and food and the housework. “Being honest about plans and intentions is also essential, but ultimately the establishment of some house rules, as any self-respecting co-habitants would seek to agree upon, might help head off conflicts,” he says.
Four years ago, some readers may recall, my daughter and her first baby moved in with me while she and her husband were waiting to move to their new house, having sold their home in the city. After a couple of days of relative good behaviour by all concerned, she turned to me and said: “You know Dad, what time you should be getting up and what time you should be going to bed?”
I was about to say: “Listen here, this is my house and, at almost 70, I’m not having you tell me what time to go to bed.” I did’t though. For I realised she was merely concerned about my well-being.
That’s what your kids do – worry about you when get old. Just like you did of them all those years ago.
What was it, Wordsworth said?
