Gaffs: Why No One Can Get a House, and What We Can Do About It

By Rory Hearne

The book that has been waiting to be written – how Ireland’s housing policy has locked an entire generation out of the housing market and what we should do about it.

”Clear, cogent and persuasive” – Fintan O’Toole

Millennials are the first generation in Ireland to be worse off than their parents. Trapped in a game of rental roulette, stuck living at home as adults, and many on the brink of homelessness, the Irish housing crisis has defined the lives of an entire generation – and it is set to continue.

With housing costs in Ireland the highest in the EU, the property ladder has been kicked from under thousands. So how did we get here … and how do we break the cycle?

In Gaffs, housing expert Rory Hearne urges us to think about the people behind the statistics, and shows us that there is a way towards a future where everyone has access to a home.

Format: Trade Paperback
Release Date: 29 Sep 2022
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-0-00-852958-1
Price: £14.99 (Export Price) , £14.99, €None
Rory Hearne is an Assistant Professor of Social Policy in Maynooth University, specialising in housing policy and housing rights. He makes regular appearances on national TV and radio as an expert on Ireland’s housing policy, including Prime Time, The Brendan O’Connor Show, and The Blindboy Podcast. He has written articles for TheJournal.ie and The Irish Examiner. He is the author of Housing Shock: The Irish Housing Crisis and How to Solve It (2020).

”'The heart of the book is a clear, cogent and persuasive account of how this crisis was created. Showing that it is, indeed, a deliberate creation is the strength of Hearne’s argument. And while this is a source of anger, it might also be a source of hope: what bad public policy has wrought, better policy can undo.” - Fintan O’Toole The Irish Times