Atlantic Books · 1 October 2026 · Paperback £16.99 · ISBN 9781805467137

"If you read one book on Irish housing, make it Brittle — Lyons understands this crisis better than anyone." — David McWilliams

"Magnificent… the most insightful and comprehensive thing I've ever read on housing." — John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times

Just under half of Irish adults under 40 are living with their parents or in shared accommodation — and almost all of them would rather be living by themselves or with a partner, but can't.

The housing crisis is usually spoken of as a bubble. Brittle argues that this metaphor is outdated and that it has led Ireland to the wrong solutions. Ireland's problem is not that its housing system is inflated: it is that the system has become brittle, losing the ability to respond to change. When demand shifts, when families form, when a city grows, a healthy housing system bends. Ireland's breaks.

The book sets out what that brittleness is doing to Irish society, traces how it emerged over more than a century of policy choices, and — most importantly — shows how a healthier housing system can be built.

Brittle draws on two decades of research and on the data behind the Daft.ie Reports, which I have written since 2004.

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