Vol. 1026 No. 7
1. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans for a redress scheme for homeowners impacted by Celtic tiger-era fire safety, water ingress and other structural defects. [47294/22]
Yesterday, tens of thousands of homeowners and tenants who have been affected by Celtic tiger-era defects were desperately hoping that there would be a redress scheme announced in the budget. Instead, they heard by way of correspondence from the Minister that he was going to set up an interdepartmental agency group and advisory forum and that proposals for progressing some form of scheme would be delivered by the end of the year. Many of those homeowners are nervous that they will experience long delays before a new redress scheme will be open and available. Can the Minister outline what exactly his intention is and when a scheme will be available for these effected homeowners to get the redress they rightly deserve?
As the Deputy will know, the programme for Government sets out a commitment to examine defects in housing having regard to the joint Oireachtas committee report, Safe as Houses?, and to assist owners of latent defect properties by identifying what the financial options for those affected by them would be. In response, in February 2021, I established a working group to examine the matter. The group was chaired by former Donegal County Council CEO Seamus Neely and included stakeholders who did good work and set the terms of reference. I got the report of the working group, entitled Defects in Apartments, on 29 July. I published it the following day on 30 July.
Yesterday, I brought a memorandum to the Government to inform it of the content of the report and the next steps that I would be taking. In that context - this is not about kicking it down the road at all but about doing it properly - I will now, in consultation with Government colleagues, develop options with a view to providing support to homeowners who find themselves in a difficult financial situation through no fault of their own. I said this was a nettle to be grasped. We put it in the programme for Government. I am acting on it and I am serious about doing it. First, an interdepartmental agency group will be established to bring forward specific proposals and it is important that is done. That will be done in a time-bound fashion.
In addition, an advisory group to develop a code of practice will also be established to provide guidance to building professionals and to local authority building control fire services, including guidance and interim safety measures in line with recommendation 8 of the working group's own report.
Finally, I also intend liaising with key stakeholders. I did write to them yesterday and I have met them. I met them in advance of the budget and explained the position through Pat Montague, who I have to say is being incredibly co-operative and constructive in his response. I did write yesterday, as the Deputy mentioned, and I intend to proceed with this. We will need legislation to underpin this scheme. I will respond further in my supplementary response.
I recently met with homeowners and tenants in a development in Park West. They have recently learned that they have Celtic tiger-era defects costing to the tune of €70,000 per apartment. They need redress and support now. The concern I have from listening to the Minister’s response and from reading the letter he sent to the Construction Defects Alliance is that it sounds similar to the long, protracted process we saw with the defective blocks. There was a 12-month period before legislation was produced and passed. There is a six-to-nine-month period where regulations have to be put into effect. In real terms, that means that these tens of thousands of homeowners could be looking at a scheme not being open or available until the middle or end of next year, with no available redress, no interim measures or no retrospective measures until 2024. Can the Minister at least give us some indication of his timeline for these pieces of work that he has outlined? What guarantee can he give us that we will not have the same delays in creating this new scheme as those we have seen with the controversial enhanced defective blocks scheme?
First, the defective block scheme, as the Deputy knows, is an Exchequer and Government commitment in the region of €2.7 billion to assist homeowners in need of help in affected counties. We needed to underpin that with legislation. I also want to say to the Deputy that the mistakes of the first defective concrete blocks scheme need to be learned. They were set up under regulations and not on a sound basis under legislation. I have said to the Construction Defects Alliance that we will need legislation.
On the Deputy’s specific question around timeframes, I intend to bring options for financial assistance and for how this scheme would operate this year. I will stay in touch, as I have done regularly, with the Construction Defects Alliance and with other stakeholders. I am committed to helping in this space. The Deputy is right. I know thousands of homeowners and I have met with them in my own constituency and right across the country. This Government will help. I ask - in fairness, we have had this heretofore in respect of defects - for a constructive approach from all of us, because all of us want this rectified. I will not be dragging my feet on this, but we have to get the scheme right. I have to bring forward options that get agreement in government as to what we can do.
The one thing that we should all learn from the two problematic defective block schemes is that we should not provide a grant scheme for Celtic tiger-era defects. The quickest, most efficient and most cost-effective way are providing these tens of thousands of homeowners with redress is to change the terms of reference for the Pyrite Resolution Board and to allow it to take on an end-to-end scheme to support those homeowners. A grant scheme will be exceptionally difficult to operate, particularly for multi-unit developments where there will be social housing landlords, private landlords, institutional landlords and homeowners. Therefore, I recommend that approach to the Minister.
The problem, however, is that this work has already been delayed. The report was meant to be produced in the middle of last year. That is not the Minister’s fault. It is because the work of the independent group took longer to do. I am not criticising it. However, if we have to wait for legislation, homeowners who are now losing their insurance and homeowners who are at risk of fire safety enforcement are being told essentially to wait for another year or for a year and a half before money starts to come down. Can the Minister give us any assurance that interim measures, retrospective measures or some kind of immediate support can be made available early next year because that is what these homeowners need to hear?
All options will be considered. I actually do not agree with the Deputy and I do not think the pyrite remediation scheme or that legislation would be a sound footing to set up a significant piece of work like this. Some 28,000 homeowners and households participated in the survey, so we have a good handle on the scope, the range and types of defects, from fire defects to water ingress to structural defects. We also have quite a good handle on what the approximate cost would be - in or around €20,000 per unit. I am aware of people who have already carried out works and fire safety works because they had to for their own good and for the safety of their families. In advance of the end of this year, I will be bringing forward to Government both long-term options and options that we look at on an interim basis. However, we need legislation. We need a robust scheme, because this scheme will probably be with us for five to ten years at least. I understand the point that the Deputy has made about the pyrite remediation scheme and the legislation there. I know from talking to the Construction Defects Alliance that it has a concern about trying to shoehorn this scheme into that also. We need stand-alone legislation. I will keep the House informed and I will be bringing options to Government in advance of the end of this year.
2. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the further plans that he has to update the income limits for local authority housing and other housing-related supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46929/22]
3. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason that he has not raised all of the social housing eligibility income thresholds; and if he plans to do so. [47295/22]
The income limits for social housing have not increased in a decade, while property prices have doubled over the same period, forcing people to turn down work or face the prospect of homelessness. Other families who received the pandemic unemployment payment, despite its temporary nature, have now been forced off the housing list. In a perverse twist, the budget measures announced yesterday to help families will push more of them off the housing list, resulting in the withdrawal of housing assistance. When will we see changes to these thresholds?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.
As Deputy Naughten will know, Housing for All was published in September 2021. He is right that housing limits have not changed for ten or 11 years. As part of the broad suite of social housing reform, I committed to reviewing income eligibility for social housing. The review, which examined the efficiency of the current banding model and income limits applicable to local authorities, has been completed.
I have recently approved implementation of some of its recommendations. The review has now been published and it is available on the Department's website. The recommendations contained in the review include the commissioning of work to scope and develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. This work will commence shortly. I want it done in a time-bound fashion. The work is being done by the Housing Agency, which I believe is in the best position to carry out that work. It has been tasked with commissioning it. It is expected, and I am insisting, that that work will conclude before the end of this year. Pending completion of the work, I have also approved changes to the social housing income eligibility bands in five local authority areas in counties Carlow, Clare, Galway, Laois and Westmeath, moving them from band 3 to band 2. Accordingly, the baseline income eligibility threshold for these areas will increase from €25,000 to €30,000. The change reflects the movement in rents in these areas in recent years and will ensure local authority areas with similar accommodation costs continue to be grouped together in their respective bands. These changes will come into effect from 1 October. I have to wait for the report to which I referred before considering any further income threshold levels for all counties. I do believe they need to be increased, but I will have to base whatever proposals I bring forward to get Government approval on the report that I receive and any potential impact that those changes will have.
We are doing this work while we are increasing substantially the social housing new-build stock that is out there. However, this is an important piece of work that has not been done. We have not had a proper review or change in income eligibility for over ten years. I have made those first changes in the five counties to which I have referred. I expect to receive the further work on this before the end of the year. I am insisting on that. I actually met with officials to discuss the matter yesterday. It is important for the many reasons outlined by the Deputy, including to ensure that the income limits are applicable to today's world, and to see how they fit in with our affordability thresholds as well. Thankfully, we are seeing a newer tenure coming through now, namely, affordable rental and affordable housing at scale. That in itself is important in terms of how we social housing fits in with the affordable housing measures that we are bringing forward, which are taking hold now and for which around €1.3 billion will be provided next year in new affordability measures. As I have said, I am insisting that the work be completed by the end of this year. As Minister, I believe that the limits need to change and be reviewed. As a short-term measure, I have changed the income eligibility threshold for those five counties.
Turning to the short-term measure, I welcome the changes that have been announced for counties Galway and Westmeath, but what does the Minister have against people from County Roscommon? Did he have a teacher in school who he did not get on with from County Roscommon? From 1 October, there is going to be €6,000 of a difference in the income thresholds for people living in Baylough in Athlone who are on the same income, living next door to each other, paying the same rent and whose children play in the same football teams and go to the same school because they live on opposite sides of a white line. Seventeen minutes up the road, in Glentaun in Creagh, it is even worse. There is not even a white line in the middle of the road and there is that differential there. Why are those people being discriminated against? We need to be inclusive and not exclusive. We cannot wait until the end of the year for these changes.
I have to say that the Minister's response is deeply disappointing. First, he has had this report since December. I do not believe for a second that the delay in taking action, whether to extend the uplift in bands to more counties or to extend the uplift more generally, has to do with the need for more research. I am firmly of the view that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is absolutely resisting the Minister's desire to raise these income thresholds. The consequence is as follows. There are families who are being reviewed, they are €10, €20, €50, €100 or €500 a year over the limit, and they are losing five, 12 or more years on the list. I had one case, and the Minister has corresponded with the family in question, where, due to a family reunification - thankfully the family got back together and that is good for their children - they are a tiny amount of money over the threshold and they cannot even get onto the social housing list. That family, as the Minister knows, is homeless and accessing emergency support services.
This is a very straightforward decision. The Minister has the power to bring to Cabinet a proposal to raise the thresholds. We do not need this additional research. I welcome the fact that the Minister has finally published the review. I have had a quick read of the recommendations. The recommendations are primarily calling for more research. We know what is happening. The Minister's own backbenchers are telling him what is happening. The thresholds are too low and people on very modest incomes cannot get social housing support or housing assistance payment, HAP, and are being removed from the social housing list. I urge the Minister to act in the interest of these people now, rather than delaying this for another six or 12 months.
The changes that I made already in respect of the five counties to which Deputy Naughten referred were changes that very obviously needed to be made. I was able to make the changes quite quickly. In fairness, I recognise that the Deputy has welcomed those changes, which take effect from 1 October. For those who have read the report, and I am not saying that the Deputies have not read it-----
I have not read the full report, but I have read the recommendations.
I am not addressing Deputy Ó Broin directly. It is not all about him. I am just saying that I would ask those who have not read the report to do so. I am not satisfied with elements of the report submitted to me, to be very frank, as I said during the previous oral question session that we had. I do not believe that some of the recommendations within the report go far enough. We need to change the income eligibility limits. As Deputy Naughten rightly stated, it is over ten years since they were changed.
To Deputy Ó Broin, I say that we do need that additional piece of research, because we need to be able to base the decision as to what the thresholds will be in different counties, whether we will have one threshold, two bands or whatever, on factual information. I have said already, and I do not want to repeat myself, that I intend to have that piece of work done through the Housing Agency, which has the expertise to do it. I am certain that all the Deputies here respect the work that the agency does. I will have that report before the end of the year. I will then bring forward proposed changes to the Government for approval. It is something that I earnestly want to do, but I have to do it in a structured way based on fact, and I will do that. I know how important it is to people and I know that there are people who have been caught in the middle. I am also looking to see if there is anything we can do by way of transitionary measures while this work is taking place. It has been brought to my attention that there are some cases where people have gone over the threshold in the short term and have been removed from the local authority housing list. That is not something I want to see, particularly for a small change. I am earnest in my desire to make significant changes here that will be made subject to me receiving the report before the end of this year.
As I said, the reality is that the income limits have not changed in 11 years. Property prices have doubled in that period of time. In fact, the price of a three-bedroom semi-detached house is increasing at €100 per day at the moment. We need, even in the short term, some discretion in situations where people get a temporary increase in income. There should be some flexibility so that they are not automatically excluded. That is going on left, right and centre right across the country at the moment and it needs to be addressed.
Second, I wish to ask the Minister a question in relation to the tax credit that was announced yesterday. Rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and HAP tenancies are being excluded from the measure. What is the story with local authority and housing association tenancies? Can those tenants claim the relief?
Here are the facts. Large numbers of people are losing or being denied access to social housing supports. We know this because Deputies from all parties, including the Minister's, have been saying it on the floor of the House for five years. One of the big concerns now is that as a result of the income tax and social welfare changes that were announced yesterday, there may be another group of people who are pushed marginally above the limit. I would be interested to know whether any analysis was done by the Minister's Department as to the impact of those changes on households that were at the margins of the existing limits. What I am not hearing from the Minister is the urgency that is required. We have been debating this, including when the Minister was on this side of the House, for years. Can the Minister tell us when he expects to bring a proposal to Cabinet at least, so that those people who are struggling will have some light at the end of the tunnel? I do not accept that a review that took over a year to conduct, that is now taking over a year to assess, which could then lead to even more research and assessment, is an acceptable timeline. These people are hard-pressed and cannot afford their rents.
They are losing years and need the Minister to act now.
Any fair analysis would show I have already made significant changes in the five counties I could address straight away. To Deputy Naughten's point, I am looking at what we can do with regard to discretion. I have received a number of good examples of cases where people were marginally over the limit because of a change in circumstances in the previous year and have since fallen back under the limit. Some local authorities are insisting that those people go back for a new application. I am happy to use this opportunity to say I am absolutely looking at that. I have been using examples of some of the cases that have been forwarded to me by Government and Opposition Deputies to work through what we can do by way of transitionary interim measures.
I am serious about making changes in this space but those changes must be made on the basis of proper research to ensure the levels we go up to are commensurate with the affordable housing piece. We must consider the best mechanism across the country, whether that is a banding system, a blanket system or something else. I am not delaying this. The Housing Agency, for which I have a lot of regard, has expertise in this area. It has been commissioned and is in charge of this piece of work. I have already said to my officials in the Department that I want this concluded by the end of the year. We are coming into October so I want completion within the next three months. That is the timeframe to which I want to work to bring measures and proposals to Government for approval. I know how important this is for people. The Government is increasing the social housing stock to levels not seen before, which is good. I meet new tenants all over the country who are getting a home for life. That is fantastic and shows that the social housing programme is working. We must get it up to a sustainable level. We must ensure that those people who have been waiting for a substantial time for those homes get them, and that our income limits, as Deputy Naughten rightly said, are applicable to today's world. That work is under way. I hope to have recommendations to make to the Government before the end of the year. I will move on it swiftly.
4. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of homes that have been or that will be built in County Clare from 2020 to 2025 under the local authority affordable purchase scheme; if he will provide a breakdown for each of the four municipal districts Ennis, Killaloe, Shannon and west Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47617/22]
Affordable housing schemes were introduced for the large and growing cohort of people who did not qualify for social housing but did not earn enough to buy a home or qualify for a mortgage. As I understand it, there are three different schemes. Two of them involve a loan that is essentially a top-up between the mortgage such people could raise on the open market and the price of a house. Only one of those schemes involves local authorities building houses to sell to people at an affordable rate. That is the local authority affordable purchase scheme. How many houses in Clare will be or have been built under that scheme? Are there any plans for an increase?
The affordable housing fund is available to assist all local authorities in bringing forward affordable housing schemes. Following the publication of the Government's Housing for All plan last September, I asked local authorities to prepare housing delivery action plans. Each local authority, including Clare County Council, was asked to assess the level of housing demand with affordability constraint projected for its area based on the housing need and demand assessment, and to plan accordingly. Clare County Council submitted an initial draft plan to my Department in December last and that plan was published in July. It is there for everyone to see.
The local authorities with the highest level of affordable housing need were asked to prepare affordable delivery plans as part of their overall plans and were set five-year affordable delivery targets. Clare does not at this stage have a specific target, as the average price levels are still well below the national median but I understand there may be some localised affordability issues within Clare specifically where there are localised challenges. If the affordability challenge is not met across the county, we allow that to be taken into account in specific areas. For Clare, funding can be made available to develop a scheme in line with the affordable housing fund. My officials met Clare County Council in July and two potential schemes were outlined for affordable housing in Clare. That is being worked through between my Department and Clare County Council. I welcome that because we have the funding to support it.
I have made changes to the affordable housing fund specifically to allow us to vary the subvention. One significant change is to allow that subvention, which means the State taking a stake in that home, to vary from €100,000 up to €150,000. The affordable housing fund has the resources to support local authorities such as Clare County Council. There are two schemes being worked on right now with the local authority. The council has yet to send in a submission. The last meeting between representatives of the council and my officials was in July of this year.
Two of those schemes involve purchasers going into the private market, so they are involved in a bidding war. The local authority is only involved in building houses under one of those schemes. The Minister has confirmed that Clare has no plans at the moment to enter that scheme. That will come as a surprise to the many people in Clare who are struggling to get a home. Incomes vary slightly across the country but perhaps not to the same extent as housing costs. People in Clare are now being told they do not qualify for the local authority affordable purchase schemes and there are no plans for the local authority to build any houses to sell on as affordable houses at the moment.
I did not say that.
Is the Minister saying that the local authority is building houses to sell to people under the affordable purchase scheme or is it not? That is a simple question. The local authority is either doing so or it is not.
Let us not try to create a controversy that is not there.
Okay.
Let us be straight about this. There are two schemes being worked on by Clare County Council. It must submit those plans to me. In a broad sense, we have already approved approximately 1,800 affordable purchase homes, led by local authorities in 12 different counties and under 27 projects. New counties, such as Wicklow, Westmeath and Limerick, have recently come into that fold. The fund is open and those are the first authorities to avail of it.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy referenced the first home scheme whereby people would get assistance to buy private homes. That is not a second mortgage, by the way, but is an equity stake. That is open across all 26 counties. I hope to get those schemes from Clare County Council, should it work them through. We are approving new schemes every week and have the funds to do it. I encourage Clare County Council to make those submissions to me. These will be local authority-led affordable schemes. There are two being worked on at the moment. Waterford County Council has five schemes in place. As for Cork County Council, I visited Mallow on Monday, where affordable homes are being built. They are going to be sold this year. The scheme is open to Clare.
I am glad the Minister went to Mallow to see the houses that were going to be sold to people at an affordable rate. However, the people of Clare want houses and not ideas. The Minister told me initially that Clare did not qualify under the various criteria or that homes were deemed already to be affordable in comparison with other counties. It came as a surprise to me when I heard that this summer and it will come as a surprise to others. If the Minister is saying that the delay is on the part of Clare County Council, I am happy to go back to the council, but that is not what I am hearing from its representatives. The Minister is saying the delay is a result of Clare County Council not having its act together and I would be surprised if that were the case. If it is the case, I am happy to go back to the council. If the problem is the criteria the Department is laying down, which I understood to be the case, that needs to be addressed at a national level.
No one is saying that Clare County Council is dragging its feet. The fund has been open for approximately one year. We have already approved 27 projects across the country in that year. Many of those are now being built. Over 1,800 affordable homes will be provided through local authorities. I have given examples of other counties that have made submissions. This is not back-of-an-envelope stuff. A proper submission must be made. We will provide the funding accordingly. I have changed the affordable housing fund to allow the subvention to increase and vary from €100,000 to €150,000 so we can ensure that people in Clare can buy affordable homes, led by the local authority. The first home scheme is open to all 26 counties. We have had over 460 eligibility-----
That is not what I am talking about. I am asking specifically about the scheme in Clare.
I might sit down with the Deputy and explain the schemes to him in more detail. I am happy to meet him. To be fair to the local authority, it has to work on making a submission to seek the subvention under the affordable housing fund. The fund is open to all local authorities, including Clare County Council. We will continue to work with the local authority to bring those schemes forward. I await those schemes. I am more than happy to engage directly with Clare County Council, as I have done with many other local authorities. I have given examples of counties that have brought forward their first schemes and there are more coming.
