Dublin Opinion

One of the more frustrating ‘common-sense’ myths about Irish society is that the Irish people possess a house-owning gene, a double-helix of owner-occupancy which defies financial gravity.

Yet, when we look at the actual facts we see that the Irish people loved owning their homes so much that in 1961 around 46% of the population didn’t own anything of the sort. Of that figure, roughly 20% rented from local authorities, 15% rented from private landlords, and around 10% were in the process of buying under the Tenant Purchase/Vested cottage scheme or were living under ’special terms,’ caretaking, etc.

The actual level of owner-occupancy is distorted by farm-ownership, where home and business are intertwined. It is no coincidence that owner-occupancy was at its lowest in the towns and cities.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s we begin to see the full effect of government policy on owner-occupancy - tax-breaks, grants, etc - and the rise in the mortgage markets. It’s here that the normative consensus starts to congeal.