Written Replies Nos. 139 to 147
139. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on the impact of the decision in April 2016 not to renew the direction to local authorities to allocate 50% of tenancies to priority housing applicants (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28866/16]
View answerIn January 2015, a Ministerial Direction was put in place which required the Dublin Region housing authorities to allocate at least 50% of tenancies under their control to homeless and other vulnerable households, while the authorities in counties Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford were required to allocate at least 30%. The Direction was subsequently renewed on two occasions, with the last renewal expiring on 30 April 2016.
At the time of the last renewal in February 2016, the Housing Agency was requested to conduct a review of the operation of the Direction and provide an impartial assessment.
The Agency recommended that the Direction should be allowed to lapse upon its expiry date.
This Direction was only ever intended to operate for a short period of time to provide an immediate increase in the number of social housing tenancies being allocated to homeless households. In the normal course, local authorities and their elected members are best placed to determine the allocation of social housing for their own areas, in line with national policy.
Among the Agency’s findings was that the well-established allocation procedures of housing authorities are capable of responding to particular housing need without an on-going Ministerial Direction. This analysis is vindicated by the fact that, in the first 6 months of this year, local authorities nationally have assisted more than 1,350 sustainable exits from homelessness into independent tenancies, with almost half of these going into social housing tenancies.
Taking account of the Housing Agency report, my predecessor decided not to renew the terms of this Direction. I do not intend to revisit the matter as I am confident that the comprehensive range of actions and initiatives underway to increase housing supply generally, as set out in Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, will enable local authorities to maintain or indeed exceed the level of housing allocations to homeless households and other vulnerable groups achieved under the Ministerial Direction.
140. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will consider examining the Rentplus scheme in the UK, which helps people to buy affordable homes, with a view to initiating a similar scheme across the State. [28873/16]
View answerI assume that the Deputy is referring to the rent-to-buy scheme operated by Rentplus-UK Ltd. I have no plans to introduce a similar scheme in Ireland, nor am I aware of plans by any development company in the State to initiate such a scheme.
The Government recognises the major challenges presented by the shortage of housing at affordable prices, rising rents and the unacceptably high level of homelessness. That is why, in publishing the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Government has set out a practical and readily implementable set of actions to create a functioning and sustainable housing system. The Action Plan includes more than 80 separate actions and is very much focussed on the increased supply of affordable homes in the right locations. Rebuilding Ireland can be accessed at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/Rebuilding%20Ireland_Action%20Plan.pdf.
The Plan also commits to the introduction of a new pilot affordable rental scheme, to enhance the capacity of the private rented sector to provide quality and affordable accommodation for households, currently paying a disproportionate amount of disposable income on rent. The objective of this scheme will be to provide long-term affordable accommodation for low to moderate income key-worker households in urban areas of high demand and to provide an economic incentive to increase supply of rental accommodation. Subject to the finalisation of the scheme by Government and market uptake thereafter, the scheme is expected to deliver at least 2,000 rental properties over a range of projects by 2018.
Any housing-related taxation matters are a matter for the Minister for Finance to consider in a Budgetary context.
141. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of houses which have been selected for hardcore testing, had a second test done and been refused entry into the pyrite remediation scheme. [28926/16]
View answerThe pyrite remediation scheme, which was first published by the Pyrite Resolution Board in February of 2014, was developed having regard to the relevant provisions of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 and the recommendations set out in the Report of the Pyrite Panel (June 2012).
The full conditions for eligibility are set out in the scheme. It is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment, carried out by a competent person in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013, Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol, indicating a Damage Condition Rating of 2.
As set out in the scheme, each application must first be validated by the Pyrite Resolution Board which involves an assessment of the application against the relevant eligibility criteria, and may include an audit of the Building Condition Assessment. Following validation, the application is referred to the Housing Agency for the assessment and verification stage which involves confirmation that the damage recorded in the Building Condition Assessment in respect of a dwelling is attributable to pyritic heave. Damage verification may be based on an individual dwelling or on associated dwellings. Associated dwellings may be verified on the basis of comparable damage and/or earlier tests with similar results.
The Housing Agency has established a methodology in relation to a testing programme for cases where earlier test results are not available. Testing of the hardcore material is carried out in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013. My Department understands from the Housing Agency that approximately 210 dwellings have been selected for testing under the pyrite remediation scheme of which circa 16 dwellings have had a second test carried out. At this point in time, my Department is not aware of any dwellings that have been excluded from the pyrite remediation scheme on the results of testing.
142. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which adequate land, zoned or zoneable, is available to local authorities to facilitate a housing building programme likely to meet the needs of those wishing to purchase a home of their own or who are on local authority waiting lists; if it is acknowledged that an inadequate amount of land will automatically result in higher house prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28933/16]
View answerThe active pursuit of progressing housing developments on State lands, including local authority lands, is a major part of the new approach to housing provision under the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. The Action Plan contains a number of integrated actions to underpin land supply management, including the development of a national Land Supply Management Strategy, within the context of the new National Planning Framework, which is due for publication in the first half of 2017. This will involve identifying and mapping sites in local authority and public ownership with appropriate lands to be master-planned to deliver increased mixed-tenure housing, including social and more affordable housing.
In addition, it is envisaged that local authorities will be supported in acquiring housing lands in key developable areas, and strategic opportunities for urban renewal and regeneration will be identified for co-ordinated action across relevant public sector bodies.
Furthermore, the Housing Agency, in consultation with my Department and local authorities, has already commenced the mapping of the circa 700 sites in local authority ownership and those held by the Agency under the Land Aggregation Scheme, showing their location, size, boundaries and other information. The map will be made available in due course and will be updated to record the development and use of these lands.
The Action Plan also proposes the development of new approaches to local authority housing strategies, as part of their statutory development plans, with a particular focus on the selection of privately owned sites for delivery of starter homes at affordable prices to meet housing needs across their area, across tenures and types as well as meeting the social housing requirement.
In 2014, my Department, in conjunction with local authority planning departments, carried out a national survey of all lands zoned for residential development in statutory local authority development plans and local area plans across Ireland. The results of the survey indicated that there were 17,434 hectares of residential zoned lands nationally, which could support the construction of over 414,000 dwellings. A summary report of this exercise, the Residential Land Availability Survey 2014, and the mapped results of the survey, are available on my Department’s website at the following link:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/planning/development-zones/residential-land-availability.
A further Residential Land Availability Survey is planned to be undertaken in 2017.
143. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government whether the full extent of the housing requirement has been identified in the greater Dublin area by reference to the number of families on local authority housing lists, those currently in private rented accommodation whose rent is higher than a mortgage and the normal annual expected requirement based on population increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28934/16]
View answer144. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of houses purchased in the last 12 months by the various local authorities in the greater Dublin area; the number allocated to families to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28935/16]
View answer145. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of local authority houses currently vacant in the various local authority areas in greater Dublin; if it is has been possible to reallocate such houses within a two to three week period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28936/16]
View answer146. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which the capital plan for local authority housing remains on target; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28937/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 143, to 146, inclusive, together.
All local authority areas already have targets in respect of social housing delivery out to 2017 arising from the Social Housing Strategy 2020; those delivery targets have involved a combination of building, purchase and leasing schemes and good progress has been made to date on these, in particular in kick-starting a new pipeline of local authority and approved housing body construction projects and making targeted acquisitions to achieve early delivery. In Dublin City Council’s case, the target is 3,347 additional units to be delivered through build, buying, refurbishment and leasing programmes, supported by a funding allocation of almost €300 million.
Reflecting the increased targets of Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, new individual targets will be issued which will be based on the Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2016. The Assessment process is now well advanced and will provide updated figures of national housing need which will allow for social housing delivery and resources to be aligned with the up-to-date, priority housing needs locally. Following completion of the Assessments process by year end, I expect to be in a position to notify local authorities of their revised targets very early in 2017.
Of the 47,000 social housing units to be delivered under Rebuilding Ireland, an Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, it is estimated at this stage that approximately 26,000 will be constructed, while 11,000 will be acquired by local authorities and approved housing bodies directly from the market or the Housing Agency, with a portion of these being newly built units. 10,000 units will be leased by local authorities and approved housing bodies, which includes an estimated 5,000 units to be sourced from the NTMA Special Purpose Vehicle and a further 5,000 properties to be secured from a combination of the Repair and Leasing Initiative that will be piloted shortly and under long-term lease arrangements by local authorities and approved housing bodies from a range of different sources, not including Part V. This therefore includes a mix of units from the existing housing stock and newly built units. Overall, it is estimated that around 4,700 units could be secured for social housing from Part V agreements.
However, the final delivery will ultimately depend on many factors, including activity in the private sector, capacity of local authorities and approved housing bodies and readiness of projects.
Information on social housing units purchased in respect of all local authorities funded by direct capital investment by my Department is published on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/social-and-affordble/overall-social-housing-provision.
Data in relation to 2016 are currently being collated and will be published shortly. The allocation of properties to families is a matter for the local authority.
There will always be a level of vacant social houses. The number of vacant properties changes on a daily basis with local authorities having social units handed back and having units to be re-let. The number of vacant units will therefore fluctuate constantly, as would be expected in the management of the thousands of homes owned by the local authorities, where tenants move out and move in all the time. The low rates of vacant units of 1-2% recorded in 2016 is a strong indication that the local authorities, through the additional provision of funding provided by my Department’s Vacant Social Housing Programme, have substantially addressed the back log that had accumulated pre-2014. This programme is in addition to the routine turnaround of vacant social housing stock which is a matter for each local authority under their on-going maintenance programmes.
Statistics on the average re-letting times for local authority social housing are set out in the report of the National Oversight and Audit Commission on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities, the last published report being for 2014, which is available at the following link:
http://noac.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/NOAC-Performance-Indicators-Report-2014.pdf.
This does not capture information on the average refurbishment time taken by local authorities. Feedback from local authorities is that the time taken by them to turn around vacant social houses can vary from property to property, depending on the level of refurbishment required in each individual case. Delays may also result when offers of accommodation are turned down by prospective tenants.
147. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which there is an adequate amount of zoned land to meet the housing needs, both public and private, of the population in the local authority administrative areas in greater Dublin, including north Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28938/16]
View answerThe Residential Land Availability Study undertaken in 2014 determined the location and quantity of lands that may be regarded as being undeveloped and available for residential development purposes at 31st March 2014. The results of the survey indicated that there were 17,434 hectares of residential zoned lands nationally which is sufficient to support the construction of over 414,000 dwellings. This quantum of zoned land is considered to be more than sufficient to meet the annual new housing provision requirement of 25,000 homes and to provide for choice in the marketplace for development sites over the next decade or so.
My Department’s www.myplan.ie web browser contains a detailed map of the residential land availability study which the Deputy and any other member of the public may consult, free of charge. A further Residential Land Availability Survey will be undertaken in 2017.
In relation to housing in the Dublin Region specifically, where housing demand is particularly acute, the Government published Construction 2020 – A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector (May, 2014) which included a commitment to establishing a Housing Supply Coordination Taskforce for Dublin with an immediate focus on addressing supply-related issues (Action 2 of the Strategy). This Task Force was convened by my Department and includes representatives of the four Dublin local authorities. Recent data from the Task Force concluded that across the four Dublin authorities there is land immediately available with planning permission for development of approximately 27,000 housing units and a further tranche of lands that could accommodate a further 20,000 new homes or so, if the owners of such lands sought planning permission to do so.
In relation to Kildare, as the Deputy will be aware, the current County Development Plan is under review and the draft development plan indicates that there is sufficient residentially zoned land to accommodate some 32,000 new dwellings in Kildare overall. The Draft Plan also addresses the degree to which further lands are required to achieve the housing allocation within the metropolitan area of the county under the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and which will be further elaborated upon within the subsequent Local Area Plan process, in accordance with relevant statutory guidelines and in particular, the application of a sequential approach to the zoning of new residential lands.
In addition, the active pursuit of progressing housing developments on State lands, including local authority lands, is a major part of the new approach to housing provision under Rebuilding Ireland – the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. The Action Plan contains a number of integrated actions to underpin land supply management, including the development of a national Land Supply Management Strategy, within the context of the new National Planning Framework.
This will involve identifying and mapping sites in local authority and public ownership with appropriate lands to be master-planned to deliver increased mixed-tenure housing, including social and more affordable housing. It is also envisaged that local authorities will be supported in acquiring housing lands in key developable areas, and strategic opportunities for urban renewal and regeneration will be identified for co-ordinated action across relevant public sector bodies.
Furthermore, the Housing Agency, in consultation with my Department and local authorities, has already commenced the mapping of some 700 sites in local authority ownership and those held by the Agency under the Land Aggregation Scheme, showing their location, size, boundaries and other information. The map will be made available in due course and will be updated to record the development and use of these lands.
Taking account of the foregoing and as outlined in Pillar 3 of the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness - Rebuilding Ireland, I am satisfied that local authorities have sufficient land for new housing and to ensure choice and competition for development land in the marketplace. The principal challenge from a land supply management and housing supply perspective is to ensure a strong and steady supply of developable sites off this very considerable national land bank through a variety of active land management techniques, such as assistance in site assembly and removal of infrastructural blockages. In line with the Programme for a Partnership Government commitment on this issue, the Action Plan sets out a further range of practical and readily implementable set of actions to create a functioning and sustainable housing system.
