by Kate Heaney
A RECENT report shows that County Donegal is the twelfth most affordable place in Ireland to buy a home.
That is according to Switcher.ie, the impartial price comparison and switching service for energy, telecoms and personal finances.
While this may be positive news for potential home buyers here, a survey by the Farming Independent published recently show that Donegal has one of the highest concentrations of holiday homes and AirBnBs, thus pricing local people out of their own communities.
Switchers First Time Buyer Affordability Index, which lists the most affordable areas in the country, saw Donegal rated twelfth with an average house price of €215,991.
Dun Laoghaire is the least affordable in the country at €560,000 with Switcher estimating it would take around 88 years for a solo buyer to save a deposit – around 84 years and eight months more than joint buyers in Donegal.
According to the Farming Independent, the Glenties Electoral Area has the highest concentration of holiday homes in Ireland with 4,908 which works out at 28.3 per cent of the total housing stock in that area.
Milford Electoral Area comes second countrywide with 2,249 holiday homes translating to 26.3 per cent of total housing stock in that area.
The Carndonagh Electoral Area ranks at tenth with 1,797 holiday homes, 18.9 per cent, and Donegal Electoral Area twelfth with 2,549 at 16.5 per cent.
These figures are based on the 2022 census which showed an increase in the number of holiday homes around the country with the total now around 67,000.
Glenties based Councillor John Shéamuis Ó Fearraigh told the Donegal News this week that holiday homes were creating a problem in the local area for young couples trying to buy a home.
“Anyone from anywhere can buy a house when it comes on the market, irrespective of where they are from. It used to be a connection wit the area was necessary.
“There is nothing affordable for local people to buy.
“I think a small tax on holiday homes would help. There had been plans for such a tax for holiday homes but it never materialised and it is still being talked about. The revenue will deal with AirBnBs as they are a business.
“Of course we want tourists in our area to bring benefits to local communities and the local economy,” Cllr Ó Fearraigh added.
Last August the Donegal News reported that this county had one of the highest numbers of Airbnb lets compared with the number of residential properties in the county available for long term rent.
That was according to research carried out by The Examiner using the latest statistics provided in the Daft.ie rental report published this week.
While Donegal had 31 residential properties available for long term rental, there were 1,796 available in the county on Airbnb for short term lets.
The Daft.ie Report shows that rents in Donegal for the average three-bed house have risen by 22.2 per cent over the last 12 months and at the end of June stood at €1,077.
The CEO of Macra na Feirme, Mick Curran, described the most recent figures as “frightening” explaining that the attraction of these scenic locations as holiday retreats is making houses unaffordable for local people and is creating a ripple effect that threatens to hollow out rural communities.
“What it means for these places is that a local cannot afford to buy because you are competing against people who can afford a second home.
People who cannot afford a house leave.
“For years in rural Ireland people left because of a lack of employment, but now we’ve got full employment yet we are still seeing Quantas flights filling for Australia,” Mr Curran said.
He described parts of rural Ireland being turned into a playground and called for taxation of holiday homes saying holiday home owners who leave a house idle may do so, but they should pay for this privilege.
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