Social housing is a key priority for the Government, evidenced by the significant funding announced in Budget 2015 and the publication of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 in November, 2014. The Strategy 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 strategy targets the 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. This level of ambition will address the needs of the 90,000 households on the housing waiting list in full, with flexibility to meet potential future demand. In committing to provide these 35,000 new social housing units, at a projected cost of €3.8 billion, the strategy marks a fresh start for social housing in Ireland.
Over the 6 years of the strategy, I anticipate that the 35,000 units will be delivered as follows: some 22,300 units to be built and acquired utilising both current and capital monies; 11,000 units to be leased; and 2,300 units to be supplied through the refurbishment and bringing back into use vacant local authority stock.
The process of setting delivery targets on a local authority by local authority basis has commenced and the allocation of funding to local authorities, in the context of the increased funding now available, will be based on the targets that are set and the plans of individual authorities to deliver on those targets.
In relation to homeless households, on 27 January, I issued a Ministerial Direction to each of the four Dublin local authorities and to each of the housing authorities in Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, on prioritising homeless households and other vulnerable groups for housing in their respective areas. In the case of the Dublin authorities, this action will see at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation, over the six-month period from 27 January to 26 July 2015, to such households that had qualified for social housing support on or before 1 December 2014. In the case of the other authorities, at least 30% of available dwellings must be so allocated. I expect that this intervention will deliver at least 500 homes for homeless households in the Dublin region and a similar amount for the other authorities combined.
