Vol. 560 No. 3
114 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the Government's immediate strategy to deal with the 100,000 people on local authority waiting lists and the thousands of persons trying to purchase their own homes but finding it more difficult to do so due to escalating costs. [2520/03]
The Government has been responding actively to the increased level of social housing need by expanding social and affordable housing output very significantly.
Such as?
For example, last year saw the delivery of the highest level of output under the range of social housing measures for over 15 years. It is estimated that total social housing output last year, taking account of new local authority housing, vacancies arising in existing houses and output under other social housing measures, met the needs of approximately 12,500 households compared to just over 8,500 in 2000.
With regard to the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes, the targets for completion under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 for both schemes are 1,000 each per annum. Activity under both schemes has increased steadily and output last year is expected to have reached some 2,500, well ahead of the target. I am confident that this figure will be exceeded this year on the basis of the number of units currently under construction and planned new units which will commence during the year. In addition, the availability of funds at lower interest rates, following the recent reduction in interest rates by the European Central Bank, will allow local authorities to reduce the mortgage payments for purchasers, thereby increasing the affordability of the schemes.
The Government has also implemented a wide range of measures to moderate house price increases and improve affordability by boosting housing output and by removing infrastructure and planning constraints on residential developments. Over 57,000 new houses are estimated to have been built last year. This was the eighth consecutive year of record house completion and is a vindication of the policies and measures operating in support of housing supply. The Government intends to maintain strong social and affordable housing programmes this year and into the future.
I despair when I hear the Minister's response. He has a knack of comparing figures to 1997 but, since 1997, house prices have trebled, the number on waiting lists has doubled and I do not hear anything from him that gives hope to those attempting to buy their homes or waiting for housing from local authorities. What incentives does the Minister intend to give to people hoping to own their homes? The only incentives in place at present are for investors. What hope can the Minister give to those who want to own a house?
The main aspect of Government policy is supply.
What about the availability of land?
That is where the main emphasis has been. Some 57,000 new houses last year is a high figure. If anyone suggested five or ten years ago that anything like that number could be built in one year, one would have expected that all the problems of the world could be solved. It is a high figure and that level of output will have to continue.
I agree that house prices have gone up as have numbers on waiting lists. There has been pressure on all sides of the housing market but significant resources are being put in. This year, the main capital programme amounts to €930 million, more than double the figure for two years ago. This is an enormous amount of money and the output figures are very significant. There are more people on waiting lists but some 32% of those are single people; ten years ago, they would not have been eligible to get on a local authority waiting list so like is not being compared with like. However, of the 48,000 households on waiting lists, some 12,500 received offers last year and a similar number will get offers this year. I am not suggesting that the number on the list will reduce by 12,500 as others are coming on all the time, but significant resources are going in and, if that can be kept going, significant improvements are expected.
Like Deputy Gilmore, I am surprised that the Minister is not aware of the detail of the deal done by the social partners. I find it strange that, as the policy creator, the Minister does not have a more hands on input into what is happening. We hear of announcements but the real crux of the problem is supply and demand, and the attractiveness of the market to the investor. What does the Minister propose to do with regard to the availability of land for house construction? My local authority is an example in that it cannot provide land for housing because it does not have a landbank. What is the Minister doing to ensure that neighbouring local authorities have a co-ordinated approach to the provision of private and public housing?
Something similar happens in the local authority that I and Deputy Cuffe were members of because Dublin City Council does not have a lot of land. However, the four or five local authorities in the area work in a co-ordinated way. They may not all have landbanks but something like €430 million has been spent by local authorities in recent years acquiring sites, so some people out there have sites and local authorities are making good use of them by building on them and by entering PPP arrangements with private developers.
This is fundamentally about supply. The Deputy may feel that investors moved in last year following the budget of 2001, but that was because of the price of rental accommodation at that time. There was a crazy situation where it was dearer to rent than to get a mortgage. That brought investors back in and rents have stabilised, and dropped in some cases. That move was successful and we must continue to increase supply. This is not just about investors; the number of first-time buyers in the market is still holding up well if not increasing.
