The ghost houses of Ireland: Foreclosure and eviction

[marmar]

[font size="1"]Ireland's blossoming economy sparked a housing boom, but more homes were being built than could be occupied.
Cathal McNaughton/Reuters[/font]


from the Toronto Star:


DUBLIN—In Mairead Harold’s Irish childhood, there were no rugged mountains, stone-built cottages or seaside cliffs.

Harold grew up poor in Dublin’s derelict Finglas neighbourhood, where rows of gritty semi-detached houses and parks have long been regarded as a haven for drug dealers and their clients.

A 1987 marriage to Stan Harold hardly improved her fortunes. Within weeks of their wedding, he was laid off and she had to use a modest family inheritance to pay down most of the $24,000 mortgage on their new three-bedroom home.

It wasn’t long before Stan left. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1172481--the-ghost-houses-of-ireland-foreclosure-and-eviction?bn=1

[KG]

1. i worked in the new housing industry during the boom. the owners would bluster along these lines:

'we built 200 houses last year, next year we'll build 400, and the next 800....'


and i'd be thinking to myself there's no fucking way, every other buidler is thinking that way, that's totally unsustainable...

and i wasn't wrong...

[quakerboy]

4. Its not even the number

While I don't like the damage we do to our surroundings by ever increasing growth and use of resources and habitat, its not like there are too many houses for the number of people. There are more people than there were, and there will be yet more next year barring some sort of catastrophe. The problem here lay in the finances of the things.

[BlueIris]

5. Yikes. nt

[spanone]

2. greedy humans at work again.

[xchrom]

3. Du rec. Nt