Buying a three-bed semi miles from your job may not be the best option for people, and that includes families who need to be near the city. The ideal for many younger buyers is to live within walking distance of their job. But the tallest developments in the city are around six-storeys, leaving apartments here much smaller than the equivalent on the continent. An average two-bed here is 800sq ft, but for a family looking at renting longer term, the ideal would be something like 1,500sq ft. In Norway, just one of many European countries where long-term renting is the norm, apartments are large and also come with the additional bonus of a private storage room in the basement for everything from skis to bicycles.

Planners here don't seem to get the relatonship between building height and cost . . . developers need to make a profit, so they would need to build taller blocks to create bigger living spaces. Related to that is the problem of rental accommodation here not being particularly family friendly. In many European countries, it's the reverse. Families rent because city property is just too expensive.

Attitudes are different here because we are a relatively young country and haven't considered the issue of how to make renting an attractive proposition. Instead, we have urban sprawl, and continue to build vast housing estates in the countryside.

We need to build higher then, but there is a mind-set generally that equates height with 'bad'. I don't know where that comes from . . . perhaps in Dublin it's because the most famous high building in the city, Liberty Hall, looks so unattractive.

The argument for and against renting here continues to be about making a lifestyle choice: whether to buy a family home outside the city, or rent in an area that you like. Rents have increased considerably in the past year . . . 25% in certain areas of the city. But the thing to consider is quality of life: should you sacrifice your rented apartment that is an area you really like, just for the sake of buying a place? With the market in its current state, you are not going to get rich, but in a more idealistic way, should every home be looked on solely as an investment? It is a home,first and foremost.

The design of apartments, for anyone considering renting long-term as opposed to buying, is de"nitely improving too. I think architects and developers are getting there in creating better use of space and a layout more suited to current lifestyles . . . although the issue of noise insulation still needs attention. If it's a key location, renting is infinitely cheaper than buying. In the upmarket areas of Dublin, obviously buying is infinitely more expensive than renting for firsttime buyers: for someone on a 100% mortgage the monthly repayments could be five times the monthly rental.

In currrent market conditions, the pressure to buy, buy, buy has been taken off many would-be homeowners as the immediate future looks somewhat uncertain. House prices have dropped across all areas, including in the starter homes addresses. For example ex-Corporation houses in streets in Drimnagh and Crumlin were coming on last year for 380,000 and selling for 50,000 more. Now buyers are lucky if they get the asking price. Logic has replaced the panic buying of 12 months ago and people are looking at alternative options, including longer renting.