On foot of the commitment in An Action Programme for the Millennium to a continuing house construction programme by local authorities and voluntary groups, and in response to increasing needs, the local authority housing programme for 1999 will be expanded to 4,500 "starts", the highest number of "starts" since 1986. Significantly increased capital resources will be provided for the local authority housing programmes in 1999; almost £230 million is currently available, an increase of £35 million on last year. This will meet expenditure commitments in the ongoing programme at end 1998 as well as the "starts" authorised for 1999.
I directed that the next comprehensive assessments of local authority housing needs should be carried out by local authorities on 31 March. Guidelines on the undertaking of the assessments were issued to all local authorities. The assessment will provide details of the extent and nature of housing needs in each local authority area. The last statutory assessment of local authority housing needs was carried out on 29 March 1996 and disclosed that the number of households assessed as being in need of local authority housing was 27,400. Details of that assessment are provided in my Department's housing statistics bulletin for 1996, which is available in the Oireachtas Library.
The local authority housing programme is supplemented by a range of other social housing measures in meeting social housing needs, such as the new affordable housing scheme that I announced yesterday, voluntary housing, shared ownership, etc.. It is for each housing authority to develop the full potential of the various measures open to them to respond to housing needs in their areas and I have regularly exhorted authorities to do so. The new scheme, and improvements I made during 1998 in the voluntary housing capital assistance and shared ownership schemes, will result in increased housing output from these schemes in 1999.
I expect that approximately 3,700 houses will be completed or purchased by local authorities in 1999. These, together with output from the complementary social housing measures and vacancies occurring in the existing housing stock, will enable more than 10,500 households to be catered for in 1999 compared to 9,300 in 1998. I am confident that the greatly increased provision for the 1999 social housing programmes will considerably enhance the capacity of local authorities to meet social housing needs to the fullest extent in the current circumstances.
