Full coverage: Housing

Fifteen months in the role, Martin Whelan is confident the country is on the road to a long-term sustainable housing model, with key challenges like access to land and private capital still to be overcome.

Smaller households, longer lives and changing family patterns are transforming housing demand. Yet Ireland remains wedded to a model designed for a country that no longer exists.

Having acquired hundreds of rental homes across Irish cities, the young Dublin firm has reshuffled the funding of its first portfolio.

Relief of pressure on renters will require something recent rule change alone cannot deliver: viability. This is the foundation on which new homes for rent will be built at scale across Ireland.

Ireland’s dysfunctional housing system is unable to adjust when reality outpaces outdated official plans. Could a "city-led" model like that in Finland and Denmark change the landscape for the better?

Recent signs of stabilisation in parts of the housing market are encouraging. Prices are still rising, but more slowly. Supply remains tight, but availability is improving in some places. But until the country is consistently building far more homes each year, underlying pressures in the market are likely to remain.

At a critical junction for the State’s planning system, released records show housing officials were briefed about a "critical risk" the Office of the Planning Regulator won't meet its expanded oversight remit under the new planning act due to well-flagged staff and funding constraints.

One overlooked aspect of the housing crisis has been the Government’s dominant role in the accommodation market. While policy is shifting, fortunes continue to be made.

Accounting rules designed for macroeconomic surveillance now shape housing policy in powerful ways, increasingly including independent social providers like Ireland's AHBs on government balance sheets.

Housing trends in Ireland compare more favourably with peer countries than one might believe, including for younger people – but this does not mean current policy is adequate.