I propose to take Questions Nos. 215 and 216 together.
The Social Housing Strategy 2020, available at the link provided, builds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list.
The total targeted provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme, will address the needs of the 90,000 households on the housing waiting list in full, with flexibility to meet potential future demand.
Pillar 1 of the Strategy targets the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units over the period to 2020. The cost to the Exchequer of building, acquiring, or leasing these 35,000 units over the period to 2020 is estimated to be €3.8bn.
Budget 2015 marked a significant change in the trajectory of social housing funding with an increase in 2015 of some €210m to €800m and provides a commitment to multi-annual funding envelopes for social housing with clear capital commitment over the period to 2017. Budget 2015 also provided that off-balance sheet and more sustainable forms of funding will come into operation, with the announcement of an extension to the NAMA Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a large scale Public Private Partnership (PPP) and a commitment to establish a Financial Vehicle. The Strategy provides a coherent policy and institutional framework within which these initiatives can be executed, connected and developed.
In 2015, I expect that 3,000 units will be provided through the leasing initiative; 1,000 vacant local authority units will be returned to use through a programme of refurbishment; with a further 1,400 units to be built or acquired by local authorities and approved housing bodies through the Social Housing Investment Programme and the Capital Assistance Scheme. In addition, a further 2,000 new Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) units will be delivered and 8,400 households will be assisted through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).
Under the Strategy’s Governance structure, a dedicated Finance Working Group, with appropriate membership from within my own Department, the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Housing Finance Agency will progress the delivery of off sheet balance mechanisms within the time-frames outlined in the Strategy.
This Group will build on previous experience in developing off-balance sheet mechanisms such as the NAMA Special Purpose Vehicle and the National Asset Residential Property Service (NARPS) and will identify the necessary financial mechanisms which are capable of raising finance in a sustainable manner to ensure an appropriate supply of finance is available to support the provision of new social housing.
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,39622,en.pdf
