The County Development Plan should include a commitment from the Council to build affordable housing for those working and living in Galway. Developer-led planning and development is pricing people out of home ownership. Building smaller and smaller properties does not solve the problem. It just transfers it to a later date.

Creating a generation of renters, means that there is a generation at substantial risk of homelessness once they are no longer employed. People who have no security of tenure, cannot put down roots in their community. This increases the risk of social division and instability. We need to create stable, welcoming communities with affordable, desirable housing that allows people to put down roots, and to grow their families, or to live alone throughout their life. It is equally important to recognise that not everyone will want/have a partner with whom to purchase a property and housing that is suitable and desirable for single people is as important as building for families. 

The Council should operate rent-to-buy schemes for those who wish to buy a home in Galway.