Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 May 2016
161. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount his Department spent on local authority housing in 2015, and the number of units it delivered in tabular form. [12019/16]
View answer162. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount he has allocated for local authority housing and how many units he will deliver in 2016. [12020/16]
View answer163. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the funding allocated to and drawn down by associated housing bodies and the number of units delivered in 2015 in tabular form. [12021/16]
View answer164. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the funding he has allocated to associated housing bodies and the number of units he will deliver in 2016 in tabular form. [12022/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 161 to 164, inclusive, together.
Overall funding of €761.4m was expended on the delivery of social housing services in 2015. This comprised of €636.3 million exchequer funding and €125.1 million which local authorities self-funded from local property tax receipts. This funding facilitated the delivery of over 13,000 social housing units in 2015, the first full year of implementation of the Social Housing Strategy. This represents an 86% increase in unit delivery above 2014.
A full report on actions delivered under the Strategy in 2015 can be found in the Social Housing Output 2015 report. The Report, published on 26 January 2016 in collaboration with the Housing Agency, is available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/social_housing_output_in_2015_0.pdf.
Additional data on the breakdown of output, across all social housing delivery programmes, by local authority in 2015, are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/sites/default/files/attachments/1a2-sh-2015-brkdn_1.xlsx.
The targets for 2016 are again ambitious and I expect that over 17,000 social housing units will be provided this year. 1,500 units are targeted for delivery through construction and acquisition by local authorities and approved housing bodies. I also expect local authorities to return approximately 1,500 vacant houses and apartments to productive use. Under the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme, 3,000 units will be delivered through the acquisition, leasing or construction of houses and apartments by local authorities and approved housing bodies; 1,000 units will be delivered under the Rental Accommodation Scheme; and 10,000 units under the Housing Assistance Payment scheme.
The combined capital and current housing allocation for 2016 will result in an exchequer investment of almost €821m across a range of housing programmes, being implemented by both local authorities and approved housing bodies. In addition, local authorities will self-fund a range of housing services from local property tax receipts to the value of over €112m, bringing the total social housing provision in 2016 to €933m.
