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Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Questions (488, 491)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

488. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is planning a major housing investment programme in view of the fact that 100,000 families and persons are waiting for social housing and if €400 million from the sale of 4G spectrum space is hypothecated for housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52712/12]

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Dara Calleary

Question:

491. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the supports available to voluntary organisations who wish to build social housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52877/12]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 488 and 491 together.

The Government’s housing policy statement, published in June 2011, clearly identifies that the priority for Government will be to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. It also recognises the approved housing body sector as a key partner in the delivery of social housing solutions for low-income families and persons with specific categories of housing need.

I am determined to ensure that the social housing programme is framed in a manner which optimises the delivery of social housing and the return for the resources invested. To achieve this it is essential that we tailor the use of available Exchequer supports to prevailing conditions and explore the full range of solutions to address housing needs. The social housing capital budget has been reduced from €1.535 billion in 2008 to just over €333.7m this year and the financial parameters within which we will be operating for the coming years rule out a return to large capital funded construction programmes. Nevertheless, the Government is committed to responding more quickly and on a larger scale to social housing support needs through a variety of mechanisms, including through increased provision of social housing. In spite of the challenging circumstances within which local authorities are now operating, a tentative projection of 4,000 to 4,500 housing units is anticipated for 2012.

Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as the Rental Accommodation Scheme and leasing, but the Government is also committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease and the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies (AHBs) for construction and acquisition. In this regard, the Housing Finance Agency has received eighteen applications from AHBs for Certified Borrower status and awarded such status to five bodies, with a number of others currently being assessed. The Agency has approved six applications for 128 social housing units in total (at a valuation of €11.6 million). It is envisaged that further lending will be generated for the Agency in 2013, under this Scheme, with more AHBs applying for Certified Body status and subsequent loan applications for social housing schemes.

I am conscious that the move from capital funded programmes of construction and acquisition by AHBs to more revenue funded options presents challenges for them. I intend to develop an enabling regulatory framework for the sector that will provide support and assurance both to the sector itself and to its external partners as it takes on the expanded role envisaged for it by Government and to underline its status as a viable and attractive investment opportunity for financial institutions. My Department is actively working with the sector on the development of a voluntary code which I expect most bodies will endorse. This code, which should be finalised and agreed in the coming months, will serve as a learning opportunity for the sector and for my Department as we develop a longer-term statutory framework that will best support the enhanced role of AHBs.

Specifically under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS), funding of up to 100% of the approved cost is available for the provision of accommodation to meet the needs of persons with specific categories of housing need including older people, people with an intellectual, physical or mental health disability, the homeless, returning emigrants and victims of domestic violence. My Department’s involvement with these voluntary and co-operative housing schemes relates primarily to the provision of funds for individual projects. The detailed administration of the schemes, and the certification that projects comply with the terms and conditions of the funding schemes, are the responsibility of the relevant local authority.

In early 2012, some €46 million in CAS funding was allocated to local authorities in respect of existing commitments on CAS projects then underway. In July I announced details of a €35 million programme of special needs housing provision which is intended to deliver some 377 housing units at 55 locations across the country. Approvals were based on local housing need and on the priority afforded to individual proposals by local authorities.

There is also obvious potential, across a range of housing programmes, for the Government’s objective of sourcing and providing suitable residential units for use as social housing to be aligned with the commercial objectives of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). My Department and the Housing Agency are working closely with NAMA with the aim of ensuring that a significant number of housing units are made available in this way by NAMA.

Projected levels of activity in 2013 will be subject to the financial provision for housing, which will be determined in the context of the 2013 Estimates process.

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