Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 May 2017
30. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he is satisfied with the accuracy of official figures for housing completion here; the reason for the disparity between his Department's figure of 14,932 completions in 2016 with the number of building energy ratings certificates issued in that year which was in the region of 3,500; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25023/17]
View answer33. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the reason his Department does not use the details on compliance certificates from the building control management system to count annual completions of new build housing units, rather than or in addition to connections to ESB supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24790/17]
View answer57. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the details of his Department's official 2016 housing completion figure of 14,932 under the categories public and private units, approved housing bodies units, local authority refurbished voids and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25021/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 33 and 57 together.
The recording and reporting of statistics on housing activity is complex and involves tracking a range of different indicators, including planning permissions, construction commencement notices, ESB connections and several others, from various sources, each of which measure different aspects of housing activity. Each dataset represents part of the overall housing activity but none of the datasets were specifically designed to count new house construction.
Since the 1970’s, my Department has published ESB data on residential properties connected to the ESB grid as a proxy for house completions, as it represents the best available indicator that a residential unit is ready and becoming available for occupation. This dataset includes recently completed once-off homes, multi-unit scheme developments and apartments. It also includes some re-connections to the grid, where properties that have been unoccupied for over two years are being brought back into use.
In this context, my Department has published data indicating that, based on ESB connections, 12,666 homes became available in 2015, 14,932 homes in 2016 and, based on current trends, it is anticipated that this figure will rise to 18,000 homes in 2017. My Department does not have a breakdown of the 14,932 homes connected to the ESB Grid during 2016 in the categories requested. My Department is working closely with the ESB to obtain additional and more granular data from its dataset to gain a deeper understanding of the various components of the overall connection dataset.
In relation to the Building Control Management System (BCMS), it is important to note that the BCMS was introduced with effect from 1 March 2014 to facilitate building control authorities, building owners, builders and construction professionals in discharging their responsibilities under the Building Control Act 1990, as amended. The building control process includes a requirement, in certain circumstances, to lodge a statutory Certificate of Compliance on Completion (CCC) in respect of buildings, including dwellings. While this represents another useful source of data on residential completions, it also has a number of limitations.
Firstly, CCCs apply only to works commenced on or after 1 March 2014 so would not apply to homes completed recently but which were subject to a commencement notice submitted prior to 1 March 2014. Secondly, one-off houses were given the facility to opt out of the statutory CCC process from 1st September 2015, so not all single homes constructed will appear in these returns. Finally, a CCC may cover multiple buildings or works, so the number of CCCs registered on the BCMS does not correlate to the number of building units completed. My Department is actively engaging with the Local Government Management Agency, which hosts the BCMS, with a view to developing its potential further as an additional source of data in relation to house building activity.
In relation to building energy ratings (BERs), I understand that, in line with the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012), a BER Certificate must generally be obtained before a new dwelling may be occupied or offered for sale or letting. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), which comes within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, is the statutory agency responsible for the day-to-day administration of the BER Scheme. Local building control authorities are responsible for enforcement of the obligation to obtain BER certificates, in line with the 2012 Regulations. My Department is examining the potential of BER records to act as a further statistical input to the suite of housing activity data, and will continue to work with this and all other available datasets.
The Central Statistics Office, which is the State’s authoritative voice in relation to the provision of high quality and independent statistical information supporting evidence-based decision-making, established an independent group in January 2017, chaired by an Assistant Director General, to examine housing statistics: my Department is a member of that group. This Group is considering the best analytical approaches to reconciling and combining datasets in this area and will have oversight of, and a direct involvement in, the examination of any output arising from the variety of analyses currently underway.
My Department has also established a new Housing Data Analytics Group, with membership from the CSO, Central Bank, local authorities and others to examine this complex area and to monitor and review the various sources of data collected nationally to provide a comprehensive and coherent suite of statistics relating to housing matters.
