ABSTRACT
Investment in housing was high throughout the decade; the stock expanded by a further 200,000 before the end of the 1980s, taking it up to over 1 million; owner-occupation reached 79 per cent. A number of unique initiatives were introduced in the 1980s with a number of different aims, including diversification and a mix of renovation and new build. In 1980, housing associations barely provided one in 250 dwellings in Ireland, building fourteen units in 1981, but they slowly took off in the 1980s and are enjoying a bigger role as the needs of special groups grow and the role of local authorities becomes more difficult. Probably the most innovative and certainly the most controversial initiative of the 1980s was the local authority surrender grant, introduced in 1984. The aim of this grant was to induce tenants who wanted to buy, but were not prepared to buy their local authority dwelling, to move, thereby freeing up a low-cost unit.
