Vol. 533 No. 6
295 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which it is envisaged that local authorities will establish the need for affordable housing; if any guidelines have been issued on the way in which the numbers will be calculated; and if he has considered the possibility that there may be some councils where affordable housing is not a possibility due to very high land costs. [9457/01]
Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, requires each planning authority to prepare a housing strategy which must assess the overall need for housing within the area covered by the strategy, including the need for social and affordable housing. Under the Act, planning authorities will be able to reserve up to 20% of land zoned in the development plan for residential use, or for a mix of residential and other uses, to meet the identified need for social and affordable housing. The percentage of land to be reserved can be made available to the planning authority at existing use value. Section 98 of the Act also specifies the criteria by which eligibility for affordable housing provided under part five will be assessed.
Guidelines for planning authorities on the preparation of housing strategies along with a model housing strategy were issued by my Department in December last. The guidelines set out the factors to be considered by planning authorities in determining the need for social and affordable housing in the preparation of their housing strategies and a methodology for calculating the extent of this need is provided in the model housing strategy. Copies of the guidelines and model housing strategy have been placed in the Oireachtas Library.
Houses provided by a developer under an agreement reached in accordance with Part V can be sold by a planning authority under the existing affordable housing scheme. These houses will attract the new house grant and may be eligible for a site subsidy of up to £30,000 in major urban areas and up to £25,000 in other areas. A mortgage subsidy of up to £9,000 payable over five years is also available to those on incomes of less than £20,000.
