asked the Minister for the Environment if he will give details of how he proposes to implement his policy of 30,000 new housing starts in 1983; and if he will give details of the proposed local authority house starts in 1983.
31.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Housing Starts.
30.
asked the Minister for the Environment when he will announce his plans following his recent statement that the construction of 30,000 new houses will commence this year.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 31 together.
The programme for Government includes an aim to raise housing output towards 30,000 houses a year. While no specific time scale was laid down in the programme, I am concerned that there should be no avoidable delay in making progress towards the achievement of this target.
Subject to the constraints necessarily imposed by the overall financial situation and the limitations on public expenditure generally, I will be endeavouring to secure as high a level of activity as possible on the local authority housing construction programme. As final consideration of the 1983 Estimates has yet to be completed, I cannot, at this stage, give precise details of the number of local authority housing starts expected this year.
Output in the private housing sector is, of course, affected by the general economic situation and in particular by the level of demand. In so far as demand is influenced by the availability and price of mortgage finance, my priority will be to ensure as far as practicable that there is an adequate supply of such finance available at reasonable interest rates. In this regard, building societies are at present accepting loan applications on a more open basis than for some considerable time; local authorities are similarly in a position to meet the demands for loans being made on them and the Housing Finance Agency — which has had a successful initial bond issue and which can be the means of making private house purchase possible for additional categories of persons — is now in full business.
Apart from the question of mortgage finance, following my meeting with representatives of the building industry on 17 January, I am having a special examination carried out with a view to creating an environment conducive to private house building by, for example, easing constraints in regard to matters such as land costs, bridging finance and planning and by-law controls, which otherwise might have a disincentive effect in regard to private sector investment and private house purchase.