Developers are paying off local authorities to buy their way out of their social housing obligations. New figures - seen by the Irish Independent - reveal that builders are forking out millions of euros to ensure new homes are only sold to private homeowners or investors. This is despite government rules that up to 20pc of all new housing estates are for social or affordable housing. The social and affordable housing provision was aimed at preventing the low paid from being housed in depressed council estates across the country and to promote social inclusion. But the Government's blueprint for a social housing utopia now lies in tatters because developers have been able to exploit a loophole in the rules. Figures from the Department of the Environment reveal frenetic activity from developers in recent months to buy off their social obligations.
