Conference in Dublin examining what renting and home ownership will look like in decades to come

The national housing charity Threshold will host a conference on Friday, 26^th October,  as part of a series of events to mark its 40^th anniversary. ‘Reimaging Ireland’s Future – Housing, Wealth and Inequality’ will be held in Wood Quay Venue, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 from 9.30am until 4pm.

Among the Irish and European housing experts speaking at the event are:

• Professor of Public Policy and Director of The Urban Institute at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Mark Stephens, who will examine the lessons from the past that may shape our future in terms of housing, wealth and inequality.
• Senior Lecture in Sociology at University College Cork, Dr Niamh Hourigan, who will speak about cultural roots and future horizons of Ireland’s rental crisis.
• Professor of Housing, Society and Space at the University of Amsterdam, Richard Ronald, who will discuss the global trend that has been associated with a growing intergenerational divide and the emergence of ‘Generation Rent’ and ‘Generation Landlord’ drawing on evidence from a number of counties, such as Japan, the UK and the Netherlands.
• Broadcaster and author, Dawn Foster, will discuss the burning question of where we will live in the future?
• President of the International Union of Tenants (IUT), Sven Bergenstrahle, who will outline the failure of the markets to meet the needs of low to middle-income households and the need for regulation of the market and a balance of interests between landlords and tenant.

Speaking in advance of the conference, chair of Threshold, Aideen Hayden said: “This conference aims to examine what renting and home ownership will look like in decades to come and how these concepts will interplay. Our intention is to take a step back from the intricacies of the Irish housing crisis and to ask some searching questions about how we will live in the future. The conference will also examine questions of inequality, opportunity and tenure with insights from international trends”.

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