Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 July 2015
41. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of units of social housing he expects to have available for immediate occupation in the third and fourth quarter of 2015 and by each quarter in 2016 and 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28714/15]
View answerThe Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, 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 will support an additional 35,000 new units to be delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies through a combination of building, purchase and leasing schemes. These will be delivered in two phases. Phase 1 targets the delivery of 18,000 additional housing units by the end of 2017, and phase 2, spanning the years 2018 to 2020, targets the delivery of 17,000 units.
I expect that a total of 7,400 new social housing units will be delivered in 2015. A total of 3,000 units will be delivered under the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme including leases, rental agreements and agreements with approved housing bodies to facilitate leasing, build and acquisition. 2,000 units are to be delivered through the Rental Accommodation Scheme, 1,000 vacant properties will be returned to productive use and 1,400 units will be delivered through direct build and acquisition by local authorities and approved housing bodies. Further announcements of new unit delivery under the Capital Assistance Scheme and the broader social housing investment programmes will be made shortly.
Overall delivery targets for each local authority for the period 2015 to 2017 were set earlier this year, supported by a programme of €1.5 billion of investment. Details in respect of each local authority are available on my Department's website at the following weblink: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41016,en.htm
