As someone who was brought up to aspire to work hard and own your own home I now seriously question this philosophy.
I have worked all my life - since I was 10, though starting then as a paper and bale of briquettes man. I have paid tax unavoidably throughout and other than child benefit, got nothing back. But that’s ok.
When you actually rationalise it (I use that term loosely) mortgages are insane. Usury. You end up paying double what you borrow and all the interest up front - madness. And with interest rates at an all time low in recent times. But we accept it ... and keep borrowing ..
Anyway I still have about 10 years left on the mortgage. Like many I live to pay the mortgage ... and ever increasingly, I ask myself, why?
Do I want my kids to work hard all their lives for a bank? Increasingly I see demands on government for houses and homes. Why should my kids not be in that queue. Where is the incentive to work hard? To own your home?
There isn’t one ... again increasingly ...
The vast vast majority of homes in Dublin are not affordable - especially for young people.
So why should everybody not get a cheap or subvented home and then use the money they work hard to earn to actually enjoy their life? Makes much more sense. And that’s where we’re headed.