Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 April 2005
63 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the estimated housing output for 2005; the way in which this is likely to compare with the figure for 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11067/05]
View answerThe year 2004 was a further record year for house completions which totalled 76,954, an increase of 11.8% on 2003. Ireland is building at a rate of more than 19 houses per 1,000 persons, which is the highest rate within the European Union. Approximately 500,000 houses have been built over the last ten years, representing more than 30% of Irish housing stock. These figures demonstrate that the Government measures introduced in recent years continue to be successful in boosting the supply of housing to meet the unprecedented demand caused by population, economic growth, changing migration patterns and household formation. There is some expectation of a levelling off in overall housing output as the years progress and as the pent-up demand for houses decreases. A preliminary assessment by DKM Economic Consultants for the Department suggests a level of output for this year similar to 2004. Some other forecasters have indicated there may be some reduction in 2005 of between 4,000 and 5,000.
The key objective of the Government is to ensure that supply is responsive to the level of demand. In this regard, I am pleased to say that conditions are generally favourable to sustaining supply at appropriate levels as trends in house registrations, planning permission and service land availability remain positive.
I thank the Minister of State for this information. Of the 77,000 dwellings built in 2004, how many were holiday homes and how many were one-off rural houses?
We do not have exact data on the number of holiday homes built. Different studies of this subject have been provided. There is no holiday home category as many might be investment properties but the ESRI carried out a recent study, in which it estimated that 12% of houses are either holiday homes or are empty. In this regard, the data has not been collected in raw form.
If that figure is correct, almost 10,000 houses built in 2004 have no one living in them except for two or three weeks of the year. Is the Minister satisfied with a position wherein, notwithstanding the good housing output with which we are all happy, twice as many houses are being built as holiday homes than are being built for families by local authorities? What type of country are we becoming?
Hear hear.
As I said, they are not only holiday homes but investments etc. Many people have done well for themselves in recent years.
Sure.
Many tax schemes that encourage people to buy are under review. We do not have raw data on the number of holiday homes. The number of local authority homes built each year is approximately 5,000. The voluntary sector has built many homes, numbering approximately 1,600 units in 2004 and 1,800 this year. In or around 60,000 people are in receipt of rent allowance, implying that many new houses being built are being occupied by social clients. The position is not as stark as the Deputy has indicated.
How many of the 77,000 houses built in 2004 were one-off dwellings in rural areas?
I do not have that information here. From a housing point of view it is not of great interest. If I remember correctly, there are some counties in the midlands and the west where 75% of older houses are one-off dwellings. This is the way people lived. I do not know if this trend and its figures have changed in recent years but in many counties 60% to 65% of existing houses are one-off houses, though it is unusual in the part of the world I am from.
I express surprise that, on the day the Government announces its new planning guidelines for one-off housing, we cannot be told how many houses being built are one-off dwellings. It is a basic piece of information on which policy might be made. How many additional houses does the Minister of State expect will be built over the next year as a result of today's announcement?
The guidelines are under the planning section of the Department and are not my responsibility. I was tied up with business in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and was not at the press conference. If I had been, I am sure I would have all these figures at my fingertips. I understand the focus of the planning guidelines is not about increasing the supply of houses. It has a different purpose and target. The Deputy is asking his question of the wrong person.
Will the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, who is sitting beside the Minister of State, answer my question?
Perhaps the Deputy should submit a different question.
I will answer it. According to what I have read in the document, this will lead to no additional houses. The Minister of State briefly mentioned the review of tax schemes for the encouragement of purchasing houses. During this process, I ask him to tell the Minister for Finance of a problem that may arise. It is the concept wherein, when buying an affordable house that will come on-stream in a tax scheme, people have slipped through the net in the past and abused the system. I am concerned that when an affordable house becomes available under a tax renewal scheme, it may lead to people claiming tax relief on it. I hope I have explained myself well. Someone may get an affordable house that would qualify under a tax scheme, be it a town renewal scheme or so forth, but have funding from elsewhere or purchase another property and use the house for tax relief purposes. I can give the Minister of State a note about this later.
I would welcome that as I am unsure of the Deputy's point. Under the three Government schemes that are producing affordable houses, we are very strict on who gets them. No investors get any of these affordable houses, as they are for first-time buyers.
I am aware of a number of affordable houses that have been rented out, not under tax schemes, where people have slipped through the net.
They might have rented them out but the individual who applies is still a first-time buyer. It may happen that a first-time buyer will decide to live with his or her mother for another year or two and subsequently rent out the affordable house but the affordable schemes operated by the Department are definitely targeted at first-time buyers.
I do not doubt that.
This question is addressed to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and concerns the number of houses. On the day the Government is announcing its new planning guidelines for one-off housing, are both the Minister and the Minister of State serious when they say they cannot tell the House how many one-off dwellings were built in 2004 and how many additional such houses will be built as a result of today's announcement? This is extraordinary. We had a big ballyhoo——
Briefly. The Deputy has gone over his time.
——this morning about new planning guidelines but the Government does not know how many one-off houses were built in the first place and how many additional houses will result from these guidelines. What sort of policy-making is this?
As I understand them, the guidelines announced this morning are not intended to increase the housing output.
Then they are of no real benefit.
That is not the focus. The guidelines are about giving people the right to have houses in the rural areas they are from, in which they work or in which they must be. We can provide other statistics.
This is no help. It is a bag of wind.
It is about proper, focused planning.
I would like to see what the Minister would have to say if he were not embarrassed by this.
There is only one bag of wind in this House and he has just finished speaking.
