Leeson - "Establishment Parties Laid Out The Red Carpet For Vulture Landlords"
More than 10,500 Irish homes have now been added to the Éirígí online database that is tracking the corporate takeover of Irish housing. The 'Track The Vultures' project, which was launched in October of last year, aims to identify every vulture-owned housing development in Ireland, including those that are already occupied, those that are under construction and those that are in the planning process.
Speaking in response to the database crossing the 10,500 barrier, Cathaoirleach Éirígí, Brian Leeson said,
"The last decade has witnessed the emergence of an entirely new type of landlord in Ireland - corporate mega-landlords that own hundreds or even thousands of homes apiece. The arrival of these vulture landlords has had a profoundly negative impact on the Irish housing landscape and by extension on Irish society. Land prices, construction prices, house prices and rents have all risen dramatically as vulture landlords compete with each other to snap up as much Irish housing as possible.
The corporate takeover of housing has not happened by accident, but because of the policy decisions that have been taken by successive governments incorporating Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, The Green Party and Labour. The bank bailout, the establishment of NAMA, the 2013 REIT legislation, the formal recognition of Built-To-Rent and the 2018 changes to planning regulations were all designed to encourage vulture landlords into Ireland. These measures effectively laid out the red carpet for the vultures.
Herbert Hill, Dundrum, December 2019. Éirígí has been to the forefront of the fightback against the vulture takeover of housing in recent years.
Unsurprisingly, no government agency is publicly tracking the corporate takeover of housing. And neither is any housing organisation, academic grouping or other political party. This is the backdrop against which Éirígí started the 'Track The Vultures' project in October of last year. Since then a small team of activists have been using open source material, including the landlord's own websites, press releases and annual reports, to identify housing developments that are owned by the vultures.
As of today there are over 10,500 homes on the Track The Vultures database. The vulture landlords that own these homes are primarily foreign - from the US, Canada, Britain, Holland, Germany, Israel and elsewhere. But there are also also homegrown vulture mega-landlords that are only too happy to grow rich off the back of extortionate rents.
Over the coming weeks we will be adding thousands more homes, including housing developments which have been forward-purchased by the vultures before they have even been built. In the battle for housing justice, information is power. The Irish people are entitled to know the full extent of the corporate takeover of Irish housing. We in Éirígí are determined to make sure that they get the information that they need to make informed decisions.
The alternative to the madness of housing dominated by vulture landlords is an entirely new system of Universal Public Housing. In parallel to documenting and highlighting the corporate takeover of housing, Éirígí will also continue to push UP Housing as the only system of housing that can deliver housing justice and transform Irish society for the better."
You can find out more about UP Housing here. And if you’re ready to join the fight for housing justice and a New Republic you can do so here.