Video: Brian Leeson's Passionate Call For UP Housing At Dublin Housing Protest
Cathaoirleach Éirígí Brian Leeson was one of the speakers to address Saturday’s housing protest in Dublin. In his speech, which you can see below, he explained the key principles of Universal Public Housing and made a passionate call for the introduction of such a system to permanently end the housing crisis.
The key principles of UP Housing include:
Universal Access: UP Housing would be open to everyone who is need of a home regardless of their income. This is fundamentally different to segregated ‘social housing’ which is only open to those on low and very low incomes. UP Housing would give all qualifying individuals a legally enforceable right to rent a home from their local authority.
Affordable Rental: In an UP Housing system the rent that any individual or family would pay would be linked to the overall income of that individual or family. No household would pay more than 30% of their disposable income on rent - the rate above which rent is deemed to be unaffordable.
Security of Tenure: Tenants living in UP Housing accommodation would have absolute security of tenure, meaning that individuals and families would be able to stay in their home for as long as they want. Inter-generational tenancies, which would allow the children of tenants to continue the tenancies started by their parents would also be available.
Mixed Communities: UP Housing developments would see individuals and families from a wide range of income and class backgrounds living side by side in stable communities. Thus nurses, retail workers, students, teachers, mechanics, retirees and many others would live together in a way that simply cannot happen under the current profit-driven model of housing.
You can find out more about UP Housing here. And if you’re ready to join the fight for UP Housing and a New Republic you can do so here.