Vol. 1026 No. 7
5. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current capital underspend on housing; the way that the underspend will be addressed in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46837/22]
According to the August fiscal monitor, capital spending on housing is 31.7% lower than expected.
This means it was running 21% lower in August 2022 than in August 2021. How is this affecting the delivery of Housing for All targets and the delivery of social, affordable and cost rental homes? What is the Minister doing to address and tackle the current underspend on housing? What is that current underspend?
As the Deputy knows, Housing for All is our plan to increase the supply of housing to get to an average of 33,000 homes per year over the next decade. Exchequer funding of more than €4 billion is available in 2022 to deliver the increased number of new social and affordable homes. Overall expenditure on the housing programme will not be determined, as the Deputy knows, until the end of the year. Typically, quarter 4 sees the highest level of capital expenditure as my Department recoups claims submitted by local authorities.
During 2022, there is no question but that the construction sector has been impacted by construction product inflation and some supply chain issues. This resulted in delays to a number of housing projects, which are back on track. There were consequential delays in the submission of claims from local authorities, especially post the outbreak of war in Ukraine where there were supply chain issues. However, there has been a strong improvement in the delivery environment, supported by measures introduced by this Government to address material inflation and energy costs through the introduction of the inflation supply chain delay co-operation framework that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, brought forward. We are now looking at very strong delivery in the last four months of this year, which will see an acceleration in the capital payments made by my Department.
Budget 2023, as the Deputy will have seen yesterday, provides for record levels of investment by the Government to support housing delivery. Since Housing for All is a multi-annual plan, local authorities know that funding is in the base and that they have that funding each year. There will also be more than €4 billion in Exchequer funding available for delivery of capital and current projects in 2023. I can tell the Deputy there were delays, particularly in March, April and May when there were supply chain issues. Most reasonable people will understand that is a reality of the world we are living in at present. There has a been very strong pick-up, however, and we expect strong completions in quarter 4. We are engaging on a regular basis, through my own teams, with the local authorities. My ministerial colleagues and I also engage directly with local authorities on that.
The Dublin Housing Delivery Group issued a stark warning on housing delivery, stating that the pipeline of land local authorities had for meeting their housing targets was running out. Memos given to the Cabinet sub-committee on housing confirm the targets set for the delivery of affordable and social homes will fall significantly short this year. Under last year's budget, more than 4,000 affordable purchase and cost rental homes were promised. So far this year, just 300 cost-rental homes have been delivered and only 325 affordable purchase homes have been advertised. A €240 million underspend in 2022 is forecast under the housing section in the budget documents published yesterday.
The Minister was very clear at the end of last year. He said 2022 would be the year for delivery on housing and that the Government would meet its housing targets. Is the Minister confident the Government will meet its housing targets this year? Is he saying that the memos given to the Cabinet sub-committee on housing that state those targets will not be met are wrong?
The Dublin Housing Delivery Group, which I established and includes the four Dublin local authorities working with the Land Development Agency, LDA, has done a very good piece of work in highlighting the issue of the need for additional lands, particularly post 2024. It is looking at mechanisms whereby local authorities can purchase such land. We hope that councillors in local authorities will support the social and affordable housing developments that are brought forward at local authority level because we have the funding to do that.
Last year, I said 2022 would be a very good year for delivery. Even with the problems we have had with regard to the supply chain and inflation, it will be a very good year for housing delivery on the social and affordable side. Let us also remember that no affordable housing had been delivered for more than ten years. We are delivering that this year. Cost rental is in place this year with tenants in place. More than 900 cost-rental tenancies have been funded and many more will be in 2023. I cannot tell the Deputy exactly what the delivery amounts will be at the end of this year. Most reasonable people will understand that. I can tell the Deputy that we are on track to attaining the overall target of 24,600 for housing delivery this year, which is set in Housing for All, and are overachieving in that space.
In the past year, new rents have increased by 9%, house prices have increased by 8%, homelessness by 30%, and child homelessness by 47%. Rents, house prices and homelessness have never been so high. Is the Minister confident that the capital underspend in housing will be tackled? Why did the Government publish in its budget forecast documents yesterday that there would be a capital underspend of €240 million in housing this year? Is the Minister saying that the memos given to the Cabinet sub-committee on housing stating the Government will not meet is housing targets are wrong?
I am not saying anything about those memos at all. I am saying to the Deputy we have €4 billion to invest in social and affordable housing this year. We are working towards delivering social housing at scale - the highest number of new builds have been delivered this year than in any year since the foundation of the State - and affordable housing, also at scale, through our local authorities and the LDA's Project Tosaigh. I referenced Mallow earlier, where the first affordable homes have been delivered through Project Tosaigh, with people buying those homes this year. More than 1,800 affordable homes have been approved under the affordable housing fund. It is moving and momentum is building in that space. We will do everything to use and invest as much money as we can this year, recognising the fact, although some may not want to, that there were supply chain issues that caused delays on some of our sites, particularly around inflation, which we addressed through the inflation framework. That is the real world we are living in. Supply is increasing substantially and we expect very strong completions in quarter 4 of this year.
6. Deputy Kieran O'Donnell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the delivery of affordable housing under the Part V requirement since 3 September 2021 (details supplied). [47267/22]
I will raise the issue of Part V affordable housing. I have raised this previously with the Minister, his Department and his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. My question is very straightforward. I will put on record that I welcome the 25 affordable houses in Castletroy, which are very beneficial, but on the Part V model, why does the 10% affordable housing requirement not apply to planning permissions granted for the period between 3 September 2021 and 31 July 2026 on lands purchased after 1 September 2015 and before 31 July 2021?
I thank the Deputy for welcoming the delivery of 25 affordable homes in Castletroy.
Between 2000 and 2015, Part V obligations under the Planning and Development Act allowed local authorities to avail of up to 20% of the planning gain on relevant land for social and affordable purposes. This was subsequently reduced, as the Deputy is aware, to 10% in 2015 for social housing. In line with the commitments in the programme for Government, changes to Part V were introduced under Part 6 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, which was enacted on 3 September 2021. The provisions increased the contribution required for social and affordable housing, including cost-rental housing, up to a mandatory 20% for planning permissions granted in respect of land purchased before September 2015 and since 1 August 2021.
My point is very simple; I believe every new estate that is being built should have 10% social housing and 10% affordable housing. At present, every new estate being built will have 10% social housing.
However, if planning permission is secured to develop land that was purchased between 1 September 2015 and 31 July 2021 before 31 July 2026, which is four years away, there is no requirement for the increased Part V provision in that estate. That is a serious issue. I want an integrated model. We are providing funding to developers to build affordable houses under the affordable housing fund. We need to look at this again. Can we now legally ensure a 10% affordable housing element in any new estate going for planning permission where land was purchased after September 2015?
The Deputy has raised this issue on a number of occasions. The sunset clause in respect of the pre-existing 10% social requirement for land purchased from September 2015 to August 2021 arose from a recommendation of the Housing Agency's review of Part V. The reason provided was that it would maintain near-term supply of all types of housing. The review was mindful of the delay that would attach if development plans had to be reviewed. In addition, increasing the percentage could make developments unviable where the original financial appraisal was based on the 10% contribution. Our Department is open to looking at advance purchase arrangements for new developments. The 10% threshold was already there. There is flexibility through the advance purchase arrangements but we had to provide certainty. The critical thing was that we had to ensure delivery of housing in the near term.
This is very straightforward. It is about the cost of building houses in an estate. My worry is that, when developers or builders buy lands, it will normally be a couple of years before they apply for planning permission or build houses. Most of the land that will be built on in the coming years is land purchased prior to 31 July 2021. I ask the Minister of State to commit to looking at establishing a legal basis and funding model to compensate any builders or developers seeking permission from a local authority to build a private estate on lands purchased before 31 July 2021 for any costs involved in building affordable houses. I want every new estate built to incorporate 10% social housing and 10% affordable housing. I ask that the Minister of State engage with the Attorney General to seek further legal advice to see if this can be overcome. It is a matter of funding. The Government can provide assurance for developers on these costs.
The decision by Government to return the Part V obligation to 20% was the right decision. It ensures that we will have a good mix of tenure in our housing stock, which is absolutely critical. The second critical thing is the near-term delivery of housing supply. In that regard, we have done the right thing.
On affordable housing delivery in Limerick, funding of €1.875 million was recently approved for 25 affordable purchase homes at Brú Na Gruadán, Castletroy, with Limerick City and County Council advising that it aims to deliver these in 2023. The council has been assigned baseline affordable housing fund support for delivery of 264 units to 2026 so there is significant delivery of affordable housing. We take on board the Deputy's point but the decision the Government made was the correct one.
7. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on the Croí Cónaithe scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45242/22]
14. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to put measures in place to support the refurbishment of vacant property in rural communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46926/22]
36. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of full-time vacant homes officers in each local authority tasked solely with identifying vacant properties and bringing them back into use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47193/22]
41. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the new grant for the refurbishment of old derelict houses will be extended to rural areas, given that, at present, the scheme is only available in certain towns. [46755/22]
45. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether the strict criteria for the location of suitable housing under the Croí Cónaithe fund are too exclusionary and reducing access to the scheme. [47312/22]
For a number of years, I was a lone voice in this House in highlighting the need to reopen vacant homes. I acknowledge the steps the Minister has taken in introducing a refurbishment grant for vacant properties in our towns, villages and rural areas. However, the Department was slow to issue guidance to local authorities, although it eventually did come. We now need to actively encourage the uptake of this scheme.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 14, 36, 41 and 45 together.
I acknowledge the Deputy's input on this. We have discussed it. This scheme can be vitally important in breathing life back into our towns, villages and rural areas. I will explain where we are at the moment.
As Deputy Naughten will know, pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. All of us want to do that and we should do so. Many areas in our cities, towns and villages of all sizes face the blight of vacant properties. On 14 July this year, I launched the vacant property refurbishment grant as part of the Croí Cónaithe towns fund. That grant will benefit those who wish to turn a formerly vacant property, house or building into their principal private residences. The grant is worth up to €30,000 and is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation, as I have said. This includes the conversion of a property which was not previously residential. I have also made a change to planning exemptions to allow conversion from commercial to residential use without planning permission. Where the refurbishment costs are expected to exceed the grant of €30,000, there is a further grant available if the local authority designates the home as derelict. This comes to a total of €50,000, comprising €30,000 where the property is vacant and €20,000 where it is derelict.
On 21 September, I launched the ready-to-build scheme, which is the equivalent of the serviced sites fund for our towns and villages. There has been a great response to that. When I launched the original Croí Cónaithe fund for our towns and villages, I committed to an ongoing review of the schemes under it. I am now expanding the scheme. Guidance has issued. In fairness, we only launched it on 14 July. In the first four weeks, there were 169 applications to the scheme, with most local authorities making applications. There is incredible interest in it and I believe it will work very well because it is simple. It has been broadly welcomed. We are retaining it in the budget. Others who are sitting not too far away from Deputy Naughten would get rid of it. That is something they can explain. This is a simple grant that will help homeowners. I have now extended it to rural areas. That will take effect from November. I have also extended it to urban towns like Drumcondra or Ballincollig. It is open right across the Twenty-six Counties and has already had a very good start. I thank the Deputy for his input on the scheme.
From a climate perspective, this is a no-brainer. We have already put the infrastructure in place. There is water and electricity and broadband is going in now. In climate terms, every square metre of new-build takes 1 tonne but the refurbishment of a square metre of an existing house takes half of that. There has already been an incredible level of interest in the scheme but we have set a cap of 2,000 premises by 2025. Conservatively, we are looking at somewhere between 90,000 and 160,000 vacant properties across the country. Can the Minister assure local authorities that, if demand is shown, funding will be made available to refurbish more than those 2,000 premises?
I welcome the steps the Minister has taken but I have a few follow-up questions. With regard to the top-up from €30,000 to €50,000 in the case of a derelict property, does the property have to be on the county's derelict sites register or can the council say that it missed it but accepts that it is derelict? That is the carrot side of things, which I greatly welcome, but will greater use be made of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to put pressure on people who own derelict sites to sell? There are many people who want to buy these sites and the Government is clearly incentivising that through this excellent scheme, on which I congratulate the Minister. The Minister has said he is expanding it to rural areas. Do the same grant amounts and limits apply?
I very much welcome this scheme. By way of clarification, when will this be a nationwide scheme? It is in the villages and towns at the moment. When will it go to the big urban areas, to rural areas and to city centres? It would make a great difference in Limerick city centre and within the environs of the city. When will it become a blanket nationwide scheme covering all older properties? Young couples and other young people come to me. In many cases, they can buy a second-hand house and do it up more cheaply than they can buy a new house. It will bring benefits to towns and villages. Will the Minister give us an idea of when it will cover all areas, including city centres, city environs and rural and urban areas in addition to towns and villages? What are the timeframes and levels of grants, which my colleague asked about previously?
This is a terrible scheme. Those people who are welcoming it are going to be sorely disappointed because it is so badly designed.
Here is the oracle.
First, Deputy Naughten is right. It is only going to be about 600-----
Is there a question? The Deputy should ask a question.
I am. There will be 600 units per year under this scheme, if it works.
I would prefer to hear the Minister's response to our query. This is only negativity.
Deputy Ó Broin is allowed to ask a question, if he has one.
I presume he is building up to it.
I am, and I would have got to the question if I had not been interrupted.
As long as I get my question answered. That is all I want.
I appreciate that. I might give the Deputy a more accurate answer than the Minister would.
Not likely.
The scheme is badly designed. The targets are too low and it only applies to a small number of towns. Like the repair and lease and buy and renew schemes, it will come back not having delivered its targets. My question is this: why only 600 units a year? What guarantee is there that people will be able to buy and renovate vacant and derelict properties on €20,000 or €30,000 of a grant?
That is a perfect example of Eoin ar dhá thaobh. The scheme is going to work. It is already working very well. It is a good scheme, as Deputy Naughten has mentioned, of using vacant stock. Deputy Ó Broin would abolish it.
Yes, and we would divert the money to local authorities to renovate and sell in larger numbers.
He said he would divert it to the local authorities-----
We have a better proposal.
Let the Minister answer.
He would get the local authorities to make a compulsory purchase order, CPO, on them-----
No, just to buy them.
-----refurbish them and re-let within a year.
It would be done on scale. There would be 4,000 a year, not 600.
That is 4,000 homes as a housing target. It is fantasy stuff and the numbers do not add up.
That is the ambition that is required.
Can I answer-----
There are tens of thousands of vacancies and the Minister is offering 600 units.
Will Deputy Ó Broin stop interrupting-----
Can I answer the Deputies who actually have an interest in helping homeowners?
Yes, please do.
I have a big interest in this - in getting it right.
I ask the Deputy to relax for a second. I am going to answer the Deputies who are constructive and who want to actually make a change. First, the grant levels apply across the country. That will happen from November for rural and urban areas, including rural one-offs and city centres. That will be in November. In response to Deputy Naughten, while this might disappoint Deputy Ó Broin because he does not want to see progress, these are baseline targets. If we can get more applications in, we will provide the funding for it. That is because we have a multi-annual housing plan.
You cannot spend the capital funding you allocated last year or the year before.
Ah, stop. You have had your bit.
Two years of a €250 million capital underspend.
These are-----
Please.
If the Deputy would show some respect to the other Deputies who actually tabled the questions about this-----
They also heckled me, with the greatest of respect.
The Deputy is just trying to piggyback on this to create controversy and do down a scheme that is already working very well. To answer Deputy Naughten-----
Nobody has access to any funding yet. How is it working at all?
Please now.
I am being provoked, a Cheann Comhairle.
You are being provoked but you are also being disorderly.
You are easily provoked.
Apologies.
Being serious, this is, as Deputy Naughten said, a no-brainer. It is open to every local authority. It is a simple application. To answer Deputy McNamara's question, if the local authority designates the house as vacant - if someone comes to it with an application when purchasing a house and the local authority says it has been vacant for two years or more - that is all that is needed. The person will get the €30,000 grant there and then. If the prospective homeowner comes forward and says the home is derelict and that is agreed with by the local authority, the €20,000 top-up grant applies. It is not "up to". It is €30,000 for vacant properties and then €50,000, regardless of the value of the property or the purchase price. I have made the further changes that the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, and I announced at the ploughing championships. Most reasonable people see this scheme as an excellent initiative that is going to work.
What about the derelict sites register? That was my question.
If the property is on it, but if it not on it-----
I know, but will that be used as an incentive to get more of these houses on the market?
Yesterday, the Minister for Finance brought forward the vacant property tax, which will be managed by Revenue, and we have the vacant site register too. I can assure the Deputies that if the interest in this scheme translates into applications, which is happening now, we will provide additional funding above and beyond. There is no question about that.
I thank the Minister for that reassurance. The difficulty is that, across my constituency of Roscommon-Galway, we have approximately 6,000 vacant homes, fewer than ten of which are available to rent today. Across the Northern and Western Regional Assembly area, there are 44,000 of these vacant properties. We want to see them back in use, bringing life back into rural communities. Will the Minister give an assurance that if there are barriers to the uptake of this scheme, they will be addressed? Take the repair and lease scheme, for example. In principle, it is a good scheme but the social housing test placed on it is acting as a barrier to local authorities refurbishing some of these vacant properties. Right across this country at the moment there is a social housing need in every village. There are Irish people or Ukrainians who will take those houses and yet we still have a social housing test in place for that scheme. That needs to be lifted.
I am trying to be constructive and positive. I welcome the scheme but there is a difference between vacant houses and derelict houses. The Government has introduced a vacant house scheme but there are a lot of derelict houses across the country. They do not accrue local property tax at the moment. Bringing in a vacant property tax is not going to be a stick to force those houses onto the market. We need those houses on the market because the Government is incentivising people to buy them. We need those houses done up for the sake of the communities but most of all for those who are looking to buy houses. Will there be a measure to get those derelict houses onto the market? The vacant house tax announced yesterday will have no impact whatsoever. The Government can treble or multiply by ten the local property tax but zero by ten is still zero.
There is a derelict site levy in place already.
I have asked if that will be increased. Will the Government use that mechanism?
I am not the Minister for Finance but the derelict site levy is in place. We need that stick. The vacant property tax is a commitment in the programme for Government and an action in Housing for All that we are bringing forward too. We have made some quite significant changes to the repair and lease scheme recently and removed a lot of those barriers. Repair and lease is a very good way of getting vacant and derelict properties back into use for social housing. I have seen many of them right across the country. Earlier this week I was with Deputy Aindrias Moynihan in Macroom and saw some fantastic work being done there in terms of town regeneration. It is happening all over the country. It might disappoint some people but it is. We kept the scheme as simple as possible. This will be on top of using CPOs through the Housing Agency. There are a number of streams there. This Government and most Deputies are committed to keeping this assistance and making sure the scheme works. If it needs to be tweaked along the way, we will do that. It only launched on 14 July.
Deputy O'Donnell has a further question.
I know of many people, particularly in Limerick and in the cities, who have identified properties they wish to renovate. They are asking me when the commencement date will be.
November.
When in November? Will it be for the cities and rural areas? When will it be available nationwide? What is the precise date? Will there be a public awareness campaign? I am still getting questions from people about the actual commencement date.
It is a fair point. We launched the scheme in July to get it up and running and test the interest in it. Without pushing it and doing a public information campaign there has already been a very good response. There will be a public information campaign around it and we will expand it to the cities. I am sorry; I neglected to answer that question. It will be in the month of November but I cannot give a precise date. We have to make sure the guidance is out there already. I will have housing summits with the local authorities on 13 October and I will be going through this and the changes with each director of services for housing. To be fair to the local authorities, it is another role they are taking on and they have done it very well already. As I said, there have been 169 applications in less than four weeks. I do not have the up-to-date figures. It will be open in November nationwide, for cities, rural areas, towns and villages.
8. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on his engagements with Dublin City Council in relation to the pressure on its finances as a result of general inflation and higher energy costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46884/22]
I ask the Minister to provide an update on the Department's engagements with Dublin City Council regarding financial pressures as a consequence of inflation and higher energy costs.
I thank Deputy Hourigan for the question. My Department is cognisant of the current financial environment in which local authorities, including Dublin City Council, are operating, and the pressures facing them in respect of general inflation and higher energy costs in particular. These challenges are common across the sector - indeed, across the State - and I will set out how support from central government for local authorities in 2023 will increase in recognition of their financial challenges.
My officials are in regular and ongoing contact with the sector on the issue of increased energy costs and my Department recognises the serious impact of these financial challenges. In this regard, additional support of €60 million has been secured to assist local authorities in meeting the increased costs across a wide range of services. In line with the public sector generally, local authorities will also need to seek to reduce their energy consumption. Work is already under way in that regard.
For 2023, the Government is making a significant contribution of €333 million to support local authorities. A large portion of this amount - €199 million - will be to assist local authorities with the cumulative effect of pay costs arising from the national pay agreements and the unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation. This allocation will ensure that local authorities have the necessary people to perform their functions and to provide more than 1,000 essential public services to our citizens.
As has happened in previous years, we will engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding any additional pay increases that are confirmed for 2023. Across all schemes and funding sources, my Department has provided €737 million in 2020, €724 million in 2021 and over €305 million to the end of August 2022 to Dublin City Council. Included in this is an unprecedented level of support provided by central government to local authorities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I thank the Minister of State. Dublin City Council is facing particular budgetary difficulties due to general inflation, higher energy costs and, as the Minister of State said, the public sector pay increases, which increase the pressure. I welcome the details the Minister of State provided about the funding allocation. Dublin City Council has particular pressures relating to homelessness and the provision of related services. As we move towards that decision-making process for Dublin City Council in the next couple of weeks, it is important that the councillors who are making decisions on budgets are aware in more detail of what assistance they might expect from the Department as they head into negotiations with various parties in the coming months.
We are working hard to support local authorities for 2023, which will be a difficult year. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has secured an unprecedented increase in housing for the homeless, with over €250 million, which will be a significant asset for Dublin City Council and other councils, protecting the most vulnerable. It is important for the State to do so. In the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, we have the move to 100% retention of the local property tax, which will take place in 2023. This will increase surpluses for authorities like Dublin City Council. Dublin City Council could potentially retain about €40.3 million of its local property tax for its own use in 2023. We are currently engaging with the sector about energy costs and other costs in response to the acute increase in inflation, at about 8%. I assure Deputy Hourigan that we are engaging solidly and we will support local authorities in any way we can, including Dublin City Council.
I thank the Minister of State. I welcome his acknowledgement of the councillors' ability to retain the local property tax. A decision on that is due on Monday. As we know, Dublin City Council, including the parties in this coalition and beyond, votes every year to decrease the rate by as much as 15% and actively impoverish Dublin City Council. I think it is unfair for councillors to have to make this decision without clear information about what central funding is available to them. We know that energy price inflation will cost the council €4.5 million. The cost of general inflation will be in the region of €6 million. Pay deal costs will be in the region of €13 million. I would appreciate if the Department could engage with the council on this matter and provide that information to councillors on the council, so that when they choose to cut the local property tax yet again, they know exactly what they are doing.
The Deputy is correct about the trajectory that Dublin City Council has taken. It has forgone almost €12.3 million by decreasing the local property tax. Timing is an issue for the Revenue Commissioners. It needs advance notice to inform citizens what the rate will be, hence the budgetary meeting has to be in September to adjudicate on the rate. I was in the Seanad earlier. We discussed a particular county which has increased its local property tax for the last three years and brought in significant income. It is now accessing huge capital funds from central Government because it has the priming finance to do so. I call on people to be responsible when looking at their budgetary processes. They should look at what they can gain. We have €165 billion to put into public infrastructure in the next decade. That funding is there to be accessed. Local authorities have to come up with their share of it. By increasing the local property tax, they can access significant capital funds, which will improve the lives of citizens and communities right across Dublin City Council's area, if it chooses to do so.
9. Deputy Kieran O'Donnell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will expand on the plans to increase social housing income limits nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47268/22]
18. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he intends to publish and act upon the review completed in November 2021 into the current banding model and income limits applicable to local authorities regarding housing supports. [47347/22]
24. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the up-to-date position on the review that is being carried out of the income limits for social housing by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47265/22]
30. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he anticipates the review into the income limits for social housing to be finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46933/22]
59. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will make adjustments to the social housing supports income limits for Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46879/22]
61. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on raising the income thresholds for social housing in County Offaly. [47232/22]
71. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when income eligibility limits for social housing will be increased in counties Cavan and Monaghan, given that the existing limits are unrealistically low at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47234/22]
I have raised this issue on a number of occasions, including last February. It is about the social housing income limit. I read the report and the initial review of income limits for social housing. I have a couple of comments. Only seven local authorities nationally have less than 35% of disposable incomes going to rent. That is the benchmark. Between 2011 and the first quarter of last year, Limerick city had the highest rate of increase in rents, at 89.5%. When I looked through the table about the increase in the standardised average, the Minister of State has increased it from band 3 to band 2 in five counties. However, in Limerick city, there has been a 42% increase in disposable income, or 40% for one adult, two children and a couple. I put forward a simple model, which has been done for five local authorities. We would increase the bands. The Government increased them by €5,000 in 2011. I want a blanket increase of €5,000 on all bands and 20% generally.
The Deputy can come in a second time.
Second, I want an increase for a dependent adult from 5% to 6% and an increase for a child from 2.5% to 3%.
The people who are on social housing waiting lists do not want to hear about reports or promises. They want to see the Government take action that has been long-promised in respect of income limit thresholds. The income limits were introduced, in my view, as a measure simply to reduce the waiting lists. In the interim, they have caused undue hardship to those people who are waiting for housing. My office has advocated for a single parent who is working in a low-paid job. She is currently living in her parents' home, sharing a box room with her child. She was provisionally offered a house this month, which was a huge relief. She completed the paperwork only to be then told that she exceeded the income limits by €1,500 a year or €28 a week and the offer of housing was withdrawn. Worse than that, she has been removed from the housing list altogether and she was told that when she gets back on it if her income reduces, she will go to the back of the queue. That is a scandal that needs to be addressed. We need to know when that scandal will be addressed.
The income threshold for housing has not changed in many years. In the meantime, the cost of housing has continued to climb, adding further pressure to households. We have seen the reports. Aside from the reports, people need to see movement on the day-to-day and the bread and butter. The cost of living has continued to increase, which puts further pressure on people on top of existing pressure. We have seen thresholds being changed in response in respect of fuel allowance, general practitioner cards and various other schemes to support families. It would be of significant help to families under pressure to be able to change this income threshold and to give people the opportunity to be considered for housing assistance payment and the various available housing supports.
I welcome that the banding in Clare has been changed so that the threshold to qualify has gone from €26,000 to €30,000 or €27,5000 to €33,000 in the case of a family of four. That is still a low threshold, which artificially keeps the housing list for Clare low. It needs to be looked at, particularly now that we have such inflation. There will be wage inflation, which will see fewer people qualify for social housing and will increase the pressure for affordable housing, because a large cohort will not be able to buy a house. We previously discussed the affordable housing scheme. No local authority houses are being built in Clare at the moment. This forces people to try to get into the market, which puts further pressure on it. Under the other scheme, local authorities will take an equity share but, essentially, everybody is competing for the same houses unless the local authority builds houses.
The local authorities need to build houses, for social housing and for affordable housing schemes.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 18, 24, 30, 59, 61 and 71 together. I am aware that some of the Deputies are not here.
Housing For All was published in September 2021 and, as part of a broad suite of social housing reforms, committed to reviewing income eligibility for social housing. The review, which examined inter alia the efficiency of the current banding model and income limits applicable to local authorities, has been completed. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, recently approved implementation of its recommendations. This included the commissioning of work to scope and develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. This work will commence shortly under the aegis of the Housing Agency, which has been tasked with commissioning it. It is expected that this work will be completed by the end of 2022.
It is now appropriate to await the report I referred to before considering the appropriate income threshold levels for all counties and the potential impact of the changes that might arise. The November 2021 report has been published - I am aware some Deputies have read it - and is available on our Department's website. In a previous reply to a question by Deputy Naughten, the Minister gave a commitment to look at transitioning measures for families going over the threshold. The Minister is not happy with the report but he is looking to the review of the Housing Agency and to have that completed by the year end. We are conscious there is an absolute sense of urgency on this, as highlighted by the number of questions and the comments from the Deputies. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is committed to resolving this and looking at those transitioning measures for families who might be just marginally going over the threshold in some areas.
The research part of it is vital. We are not sure whether it is a banding or a blanket approach, as was mentioned by Deputy O'Donnell, but it is important we complete this piece of research before the year's end.
I thank the Minister of State. He and the Minister have done a body of work on this. They have increased the income eligibility threshold in the five local authorities by €5,000. If we look back to 2011, the average industrial wage was just short of €36,000. Now the average industrial wage is just above €43,000 or €44,000. That is a 20% increase. There is now a 20% increase of €5,000 for the five local authorities. I would ask that, as a transitional measure, at a minimum, they should now look to an increase in the threshold for all local authorities by €5,000 in terms of the standard in each of the three bands and increasing from 5% to 6% for an adult dependant and from 2.5% to 3% for a child dependant. It is very logical. The Minister of State and the Minister have done it for the five other local authorities. I ask that they do it for all bands. They could take that as a transitional measure pending the outcome of the final report. I have looked at it, and certainly it needs to be addressed. It is coming up as an issue for me in Limerick city and in north Tipperary every day.
I have lost count of the number of couples I have been working with who have been removed from the housing waiting lists because they exceeded limits by just a couple of hundred euro in some instances. The system as it applies to County Monaghan is designed so that any couple of whom a single party is working will not make it onto the social housing waiting list. The income limit for County Monaghan for a family of two adults and two children is €27,500 per annum. Those people will never qualify for a mortgage. The prospect of private homeownership is not available to them. The Government has provided for precisely zero affordable homes in County Monaghan under the affordable housing scheme. What are we supposed to say to those families who fall into that trap? Should we tell them to rent forever and face the ever-increasing rent prices and costs? Should they essentially remain nomadic for the rest of their lives? My appeal to the Minister of State is not only to review but to create a system so that flexibility can be allowed for those people who breach income limits that have been set too robustly up until this point.
The cost of living - just ticking over and keeping going - has continued to rise since that threshold was set. People who were just under that threshold and barely ticking over now find themselves losing eligibility for it.
We have seen the largest social housing push locally in my area, with more than 150 families having moved into brand new social housing over the past year and a half. More houses are being built but I want everybody locally who has that low income to be considered and to have an opportunity to be considered for those homes as they are being built. In the meantime, they must be able to get access to the HAP scheme. At the moment, people are being excluded and people are losing eligibility because of minimal changes in their incomes. The threshold needs to keep pace with the cost of living and with people's incomes so that they can be considered.
As already said by Deputies across both sides of this Chamber, the reality is there are a very large number of people on very low wages and they are literally being excluded from the social housing list on the basis of anomalies that might appear in their incomes in a particular year because of shift allowances and so on. This may leave them in a set of circumstances where they cannot rent. I am aware of a number of people in Dundalk in the past while who have been refused in a situation where a circumstance has changed.
Previously, local authorities were able to make a determination on the basis of a four-week period. Now it is done over the entire year, so if anything was to happen, for example, if there was a period where a person was working extra time, and sometimes this can be required in a healthcare setting, then his or her place on the waiting list is null and void and he or she is incapable of getting on the housing list. Such people are absolutely screwed and are really on borrowed time.
The increase in the bands in the five counties, including Clare, is to be welcomed. The Minister of State has fairly acknowledged that more work needs to be done and that it needs to be study based. He said he hopes this study is done by Christmas. If I could urge the Minister of State to do one thing, it would be to ensure this study is completed by Christmas so that we can see the criteria. Inevitably, there is always slippage but this is very important and particularly as we are living in inflationary times. Wages are going to rise and people's eligibility is going to drop further, putting social housing beyond the reach of a lot of people who also do not qualify for affordable housing, even if affordable housing was being built, which it is not being in every county at the moment. The Minister of State is smiling. The day he comes to open social housing in Clare, I will be there to congratulate him. I am not trying to score points. I really want to see this happen because there are so many people looking for a decent home.
We are hearing the Deputies loud and clear. All of the Deputies made their points very well. Some Deputies were not here earlier when the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, was responding to Deputy Naughten. We will do our level best to have that report ready before the year's end. The Minister has stated he is not happy and that he wants to resolve this. He is of the view that the Housing Agency is best placed to deliver this report. He has given a commitment that changes will be brought to Cabinet to resolve this once and for all. We can hear from all of the Deputies that the challenges facing families and households with regard to income eligibility is an issue throughout the State.
It is also important to look at the issue of those transitional measures for those families who are slightly over the threshold. We will try to bring in some mechanism to support them as well. I give the commitment that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is determined to resolve this and to have this report before the year's end.
10. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the affordable housing scheme in Kilcarbery, Clondalkin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47222/22]
Will the Minister report on the affordable housing scheme in Kilcarbery in my area? Have the problems with the banks been resolved? How much are these affordable homes and what is the equity stake buyers will have to pay back to the State?
I thank Deputy Ward for his question. The Deputy will be aware I brought in a new affordable housing fund last year to assist local authorities directly in bringing forward affordable homes such as in Kilcarbery. Approximately €125 million in funding has already been approved to support the development of nearly 1,800 homes for affordable purchase.
Another five schemes that will deliver a further 270 homes are under assessment. I hope to dispose of them in the next couple of weeks. I have also approved funding of over €90 million for more than 900 cost-rental homes to be delivered by approved housing bodies under the cost-rental equity loan, CREL, scheme. Further applications have come in since we made the changes to CREL last week.
On the affordable housing supports my Department has made available, I am happy to advise that South Dublin County Council has confirmed it is delivering 16 homes in Kilcarbery under an affordable purchase scheme. Kilcarbery Grange is a mixed-tenure development that will deliver 74 cost-rental homes, 16 affordable purchase homes and 310 much-needed social homes. The 16 affordable purchase homes were supported by over €1.1 million in funding from the affordable housing fund and, following an application process, have already been assigned to successful applicants. It is good to see that there are people who will be buying homes at an affordable rate under this fund. The affordable purchase price of these homes will be linked to the applicants' incomes and mortgage capacity. For these three-bedroom homes, the minimum purchase price will be €245,600 and the maximum will be €285,300. This represents a discount of at least 22% on comparable market values in the area. Separately, the 74 cost-rental homes in Kilcarbery Grange that will be delivered by Tuath using €6.3 million provided using the affordable housing fund and CREL funding have now been tenanted. I have visited the estate. Cost rents are set at €1,025 for one-bedroom apartments and €1,229 for two-bedroom apartments. These rents are at a discount of 32% on the market value, with long-term, safe and secure tenure backed by the State.
For clarity, was the delay in people getting approval from the banks down to the lack of communication on the part of the Department? There were more than 300 eligible applications for these 16 homes. There is clearly a need for affordable housing. People in my area have been blocked out of the housing market for years as a result of high prices and unaffordable rents. They are just trying to get a place they can afford. They want to live in their area and bring up their children there. I do not think that is too much to ask.
The Minister said it cost up to €285,000 to buy an affordable house in Kilcarbery. How much of the equity stake is being paid back to the State? He said it was €1,229 a month for the affordable housing scheme. That is a 32% reduction on general prices in the area. How much would the affordable rental scheme and the affordable housing scheme have cost had this public land not been sold to a private developer in the first place?
It would have been delivered a lot sooner if the Deputy's party had not blocked, procrastinated in respect of and opposed this scheme at council level. The homes are being built there now-----
Fianna Fáil voted with us on a month’s delay.
Eoin cannot help himself this morning. Try to behave yourself, Eoin.
Your party voted with us on a Labour amendment.
Try to behave yourself, Eoin.
Let the question be answered.
It was to get public funding-----
Please let the question be answered.
I am endeavouring to answer the Deputy's constituency colleague who has shown an interest in Kilcarbery Grange.
I am correcting the record from the Minister's misrepresentation.
Does the Deputy want me to answer the question? There were a small number of outstanding elements. It was not down to any delays in the Department regarding one of the financial institutions. These matters have now been closed. Agreement was reached on 23 September. I am further advised that all three mortgage providers have approved mortgage applications for the purchasers involved. The issue that was there with one mortgage provider in particular has been resolved and the purchasers will be able to close the sales of these affordable homes - at a cost of €245,000 - very shortly. We have subvented to the tune of about €75,000. That has come out of the affordable housing fund. That is the State's stake in that home which------
I thank the Minister.
I was on the council when these decisions were made. We did not procrastinate. We sent the matter back to the Minister's predecessor, Eoghan Murphy, to get 100% public homes on public land, with affordable purchase, rental and social units. There is no way that the cost would have been €285,000 had it been done at the time. We were given assurances, as far as the council could do so, that the private homes would cost €260,000, which is less than the affordable housing. That is what we were told. I checked this morning and, according to The Irish Times, the prices are €370,000 for a three-bed house and €420,000 for a four-bed one. That is a further block to ordinary working families in my area. Does the Minister accept that because of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's policy of relying on the market, these houses are nearly double what the affordable housing scheme is?
Is that a question?
It is a very important question.
Eoin, please. What is great to see is that we have 74 cost-rental units tenanted in there, with long-term secure rents for tenants. I have met many of them.
We could have had 300.
Ah come on; would you stop?
Please. We might get to the Deputy's next question. He actually has a question that we might get to if he would let the Minister speak. Go on, Minister.
To answer Deputy Ward, the issue has been resolved. On the minimum price of the houses, I know he likes to pick the figure of €285,300, but I did state that it was €245,600. It depends on the ability to pay. They are real affordable homes that people will purchase. These are part of the 1,800 affordable purchase homes that I have approved already through local authorities right across the country. That does not even include the first home scheme. We have had well over 1,000 applications in respect of that scheme, and eligibility certificates have already been issued for well over 400. These are real homes that people will be able to buy and which they could not afford previously. We are committed to affordable home ownership. We are committed to home ownership and it is actually happening
Thank you. Question No. 17 is from Deputy Ó Broin.
Have the next seven questions been grouped?
No. Question No. 17 is the next question for people who are present.
17. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the recent increase in homeless presentations and the numbers in emergency accommodation. [47284/22]
The latest homelessness figures for the Department show the highest-ever levels of adults, children and pensioners in Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage-funded emergency accommodation. That is only a portion of the total number of people who are in State- or non-State-funded emergency accommodation. All of the homeless service providers in local authorities and in the voluntary sector that the Minister and I talk to are telling us that those numbers are set to increase. Does the Minister have any plans to put in place any new or innovative measures to try to stop the rise and also to reduce the length of time those adults, children and pensioners are spending in emergency accommodation?
The continuing increase in the numbers accessing emergency accommodation is a serious concern for both me and the Government. We are doing everything in our power to tackle this problem, both by increasing housing supply, which will increase substantially this year, and investing in homelessness prevention. Yesterday, we allocated €215 million, which is a substantial increase on the previous year, in supports for those who are homeless.
I have introduced further measures to increase supply, including the new voids programme - some 2,450 voids will be brought back into use this year, with an emphasis on quick turnaround and re-letting - the pilot expansion of the repair and leasing scheme and the reinstatement of the delegated sanction to local authorities for social housing acquisitions. Every local authority is being given the delegated power to purchase homes that come on the market with tenants in situ who are HAP or RAS tenants. I want to be clear that they do not need to come back to me for approval and they need to purchase them. That is a very proactive measure that is there to assist people who have been issued with notices to quit and who are on our housing transfer waiting list. I am encouraging this and have directed local authorities to do that. I will further reinforce that measure on 13 October when I have the housing summit with the chief executives and the directors of services of all local authorities in the country. Since I introduced that measure, we have seen over 300 new homes come in that we have purchased or we have entered into contracts with or are entering into contracts to purchase homes with tenants in situ. We are bringing in that measure while we are increasing the social housing supply. As stated earlier, we will deliver more new build social homes this year than in any other year in the history of the State. The activation and the prevention measure through purchasing and acquiring homes with tenants in situ is one that is taking hold now and I want local authorities to do it.
Deputy Ó Broin, very briefly.
It is highly likely that the homeless numbers will reach 11,000 before winter is out. I urge the Minister to reconsider his opposition to a temporary ban on evictions. Such a ban was recently introduced in Scotland. I ask him to go further in the context of tenants in situ. Some local authorities are not taking his advice. In fact, some local authorities are insisting that people must be on the housing list for six, eight, nine or ten years before being considered for the tenants in situ scheme. I urge the Minister to issue a circular to say that, where a household is imminently at risk of homelessness, the local authority must purchase the property.
There was nothing at all in the budget in terms of new homeless interventions to stop the immediate rise. Will the Minister do more with regard to tenants in situ and consider the introduction of an emergency ban on the eviction of people into homelessness over the winter?
I am meeting every director of housing in the country and the various chief executives on 13 October. I have reinforced the message about purchase with tenants in situ. The Sinn Féin alternative budget contains no specific provision for any increase in-----
There is funding for 900 tenants in situ.
No. For any increase in funding-----
Please, let the Minister answer.
I ask the Minister not to misrepresent our-----
Would you let the Minister answer?
The Deputy has been trying to talk over me all morning because he does not like the answers he is getting. He does not like the truth.
The Minister keeps provoking me with his misrepresentations.
The reality of it is that the Sinn Féin alternative budget-----
There are 900 tenants in situ and 12,000 social homes. The Minister could not even spend the money he was given last year.
-----makes no specific provision for homeless services or homeless emergency services.
That is because homelessness would reduce under a Sinn Féin Government-----
It is fantasy stuff.
-----and not increase as it has during the Minister's tenure-----
The Sinn Féin numbers just do not add up. None of them do.
-----to the highest level ever.
There is no provision for homeless services or emergency services.
The Minister for homelessness. We have the highest levels of homelessness in the history of the State after two and a half years in office.
Deputy, please.
That is it. If the Deputy wants to shout me down all morning, the best of luck to him.
Shame on the Minister. When it hits 11,000 before Christmas, what will he do then?
Would you stop? Sinn Féin made no provision for homeless services at all in its alternative budget.
The Deputy is letting himself down.
He has been behaving like this all morning.
The Government is letting the homeless population of the country down by its inaction.
