Vol. 558 No. 5
340 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which the 5% cut in funds for local authority and social housing programmes will affect the Government's housing strategy, stated on 13 November, to maintain and diversify this high level of housing provision. [25152/02]
341 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department will maintain the 2002 target of meeting the accommodation needs of 13,000 households in 2003; the number of new housing starts which will be undertaken by local authorities in 2002; and the number which will be achieved in 2003. [25153/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 340 and 341 together.
While the Exchequer provision for social and affordable housing in 2003 is down 5%, the provision of €932 million for Exchequer capital expenditure in 2003 is more than double the spending in 2000 when Exchequer capital spending was just under €452 million. Total capital funding for housing in 2003 is €1.7 billion, including Exchequer and non-Exchequer components, and will exceed by almost 7% the amount provided in 2002. This will allow for increased provision under voluntary housing programmes and other schemes such as affordable housing and shared ownership schemes.
In relation to the largest area of spending, the local authority programme, the substantial overhang of commitments affecting the programme in 2002 will not be repeated in 2003 and the funding reflects this. Local authorities are likely to have commenced about 4,300 starts in 2002 and I envisage some increase in this level of starts next year.
I anticipate that the range of social and affordable housing measures will deliver accommodation for about 12,000 households in 2003 compared to almost 13,000 this year.
