Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 April 2005
61 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of households and individuals who are living in local authority housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11014/05]
View answerAt the end of 2004, it is estimated that the local authority housing stock amounted to 110,000 dwellings. The level of this stock continues to rise in line with the Government's increased investment in social housing measures.
In the current year, the Government is allocating record levels of funding to local authorities for their social and affordable housing programmes. The total Exchequer capital and current funding available for social and affordable housing in 2005 will amount to €1.3 billion which represents an increase of 20% on 2004. Total capital spending on social and affordable housing output in 2005, inclusive of non-Exchequer financing, will amount to approximately €2 billion.
To ensure a systematic and integrated approach to the use of these resources my Department has initiated the development by local authorities of new five-year actions plans for social and affordable housing. The preparation of these plans will sharpen the identification of priority needs and help to ensure a more coherent and co-ordinated response across all housing services, including those provided by the voluntary and co-operative housing sectors. The plans should also help to ensure that local authority housing provision will continue to increase on a sustained basis. My Department is giving strong encouragement to local authorities to press ahead with the implementation of these action plans which are being underpinned by very substantial levels of Government funding.
Since 1997, the housing needs of 86,000 households have been met, taking account of local authority housing vacancies arising in existing houses and output under other social and affordable housing measures. In 2005, it is anticipated that the needs of in excess of 13,000 households will be met from the same measures. In addition, it is anticipated that a number of households currently in private rented accommodation will transfer to the new rental accommodation scheme now being introduced. These households will continue to be mainly accommodated within the private rented sector.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He stated that this year or last year, 13,000 households were accommodated under social or affordable housing. Is it not a fact that the number of households who are on the local authority housing list is in excess of 55,000? The Minister of State's policy is going nowhere. It is a poor indication of the Government's commitment to look after those on the lowest incomes or on social welfare, who cannot afford to buy a house and now cannot get one from the local authority. The manner in which they are treated is a disgrace.
At the last assessment, the figure on the waiting lists was not 55,000 but approximately 48,000. Approximately 32% of those families were single people and another 30% consisted of one adult plus one child, but we include them all as families, even if they are single people. The needs of approximately 13,000 of those 48,000 families are met each year. I am not suggesting that the number on the waiting list reduces by 13,000 each year, as it does not. I admit that as 13,000 households come off the list, significant numbers are added to it. A major assessment of housing needs is carried out every three years. The figures I quote are three years old. The new assessment was carried out last month and it will take a number of months before the data are compiled. We will then ascertain what the updated figure is. As I have stated, the overall housing budget this year is €2 billion, of which €1.3 billion is for social housing.
Will the Minister of State confirm whether the figure of 13,000, to which he refers continuously, is the total number of lettings which are made by local authorities and social housing providers in the year? Will he tell the House how many of those lettings are transfers or people who are moved to facilitate refurbishment?
No, it does not include transfers, it includes casual vacancies. The needs of approximately 13,000 people on the housing lists are met by the new houses that are built, voluntary housing schemes, casual lettings and affordable housing and other schemes.
The figure includes affordable housing.
It includes any scheme that permits people to come off the current waiting lists, but does not include transfers. It includes new lettings and meets people's housing needs.
I compliment the Minister of State on introducing a scheme to install central heating in public housing. Has he considered the possibility of front-loading the funding — my understanding is that it will be carried out on a phased basis up to 2008 — for local authorities that are able to get the work done? Will the Minister of State consider introducing a standard housing application form, similar to that under consideration by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for planning applications? I have encountered a local authority that has an application form which is 11 pages long.
That is the new standard form.
Is that the new standard form? Could we have a "Cole's notes" version of it?
The Deputy is showing his age.
I thank the Deputy for his comments on the central heating scheme. It was introduced in the middle of last year. Of the 110,000 local authority houses I mentioned, approximately 45,000 do not have central heating. We introduced this scheme whereby the Department pays 80% and the local authority must provide 20%. It is up to the local authority to provide the money. We spent our allocation last year as it is a popular scheme. As to the Deputy's suggestion that it be front-loaded, it is up to individual local authorities to decide where it is installed . Let us see if the bids this year are for greater amounts than we are offering. We must get value for money for the taxpayer. There is no point in us sending out the message to central heating installers that Santa Claus has come. They are doing very well as it is. A considerable amount of money has been provided this year.
A new standard form has been introduced. I acknowledge that it is rather long but one tries to cover all bases when introducing a standard form. It will give us a considerable amount of additional information, much of which will not apply to any one individual.
I agree that the central heating scheme was a good one. Unfortunately, it did not go far enough. Does the Minister of State intend to respond to the finding of the NESC report that 73,000 social housing units will be required between 2005 and 2012? Does the Minister of State intend to provide that number of houses in that period and, if so, when will that significant increase commence?
That report was issued at Christmas, is being worked on and will be considered by the Cabinet. We have seen the NESC recommendations. Obviously if the number of social housing units were to increase, output would need to increase considerably. We have some additional funds in 2005 and I believe we will be able to commence building 6,000 local authority houses this year. However, we await the Cabinet's decision on the report. Obviously, the recommended increase would have to be rolled out over a number of years as it would be impossible to build all these houses in one year. Local authorities have presented their action plans for a five-year period and we have asked them to proceed with them and fast-track them.
Does the Minister of State know when the Cabinet decision will be made?
The Cabinet should decide soon.
The Minister of State spoke earlier about how demand in the private sector was being met by the number of houses being built. He said that 70,000 houses were completed in 2004. Clearly, there will be a shortfall in demand in the future. As demand is met, a capacity in the construction industry, particularly in the private construction industry, to build more houses will arise. Could the Minister of State devise a scheme whereby the Government would work with the Construction Industry Federation and other interested parties to involve them in building the necessary social and affordable housing? The way to close the gap is to take advantage of the additional capacity in the construction industry, thereby meeting the targets in the NESC report. It would be a dynamic new way of dealing with the problem of social housing.
I take the Deputy's point. Very little housing is built directly by local authorities. One or two counties build a small amount of social and affordable housing but the bulk is built by private developers. I imagine it is intended to increase the amount of social housing built over the coming years. The numbers that will be built remain to be seen as they depend on funding. The overall housing budget this year is €2 billion, which is a considerable amount. The Government must get value for money and one would wonder whether it was doing so over recent years given the demand from the private sector. If demand reduces slightly over the next few years, we should be able to get better value for money.
