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Housing Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 June 2018

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

Questions (39, 59, 84)

Joan Collins

Question:

39. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on whether the reliance on for-profit private developers to supply social and cost rental models of housing and so on will not deal with the housing emergency now or into the future and that a rights based housing programme, such as that in Finland, should be the model that he pursues, in view of the recent visit and comments of the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Leilani Farha; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26610/18]

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Joan Collins

Question:

59. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on whether the right to housing must be inserted into the Constitution as a sign of intent to tackle the housing crisis into the future in view of the recent visit and comments of the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Leilani Farha. [26609/18]

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Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

84. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on providing for a legally enforceable right to adequate housing either through statute or by way of a referendum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26828/18]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 39, 59 and 84 together.

A motion to refer the Eighth Report of the Convention on the Constitution, which dealt with economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to housing, to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, was passed by the Dáil on 28 September 2017 and by the Seanad on 11 October 2017. This Committee will consider the issues raised by the Deputies.

In relation to the delivery of social housing, strong progress on implementation of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan is already being made.  Almost 26,000 households had their housing needs met in 2017- that is equivalent to 100 households each working day of the week. Furthermore, the number of social housing homes built in 2017 was more than three times the number built in 2016.

Following a Review of the Plan in 2017, the overall target for social housing delivery was increased to 50,000 housing units and there is now an increased emphasis on direct builds under the Plan. To underpin the increased ambition, additional capital funding was secured under Budget 2018, increasing the overall funding from €5.35 billion to €6 billion.

In relation to affordable housing, I have now commenced the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, the effect of which is to place the new scheme for affordable purchase on a statutory footing.  From engagements with the local authorities in Dublin, the wider Greater Dublin Area, as well as Cork and Galway cities, their initial estimates suggest that they have lands with the potential to deliver some 4,000 new affordable homes.  My Department is continuing to work with the key local authorities and the Housing Agency to identify sites which would see the level of ambition increase to at least 10,000 new affordable homes, and that analysis is progressing well.  

With regard to cost rental, I am determined for it to become a major part of our rental landscape in the future. It is clear that there is a gap between social housing and the rental market that needs to be filled, making a sustainable impact on housing affordability, national competitiveness, and the attractiveness of our main urban centres as places to live and work.

The Housing Agency, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and a number of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) have been working to get our first cost rental pilot, at Enniskerry Road, ready for tenders to issue shortly. In parallel, Dublin City Council, my Department and the National Development Finance Agency are undertaking detailed modelling and financial appraisal on a major site, at St. Michael’s Estate in Inchicore, to assess its suitability for a significant cost rental development. The work of that multi-disciplinary team is progressing well and should be concluded shortly.   

In order to support local authorities to get their sites ready for affordable housing, I have decided to provide additional funding for enabling infrastructure via the Serviced Sites Fund.  Given that housing-related infrastructure will now be able to avail of funding under the €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, I am re-directing the €50m funding for Phase 2 of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund to the Serviced Sites Fund, increasing the scale of the fund from the previously announced €25m to €75m.  When local authority co-funding is included, an overall minimum investment of €100 million will be provided to those sites that require infrastructural investment in order for them to be brought into use for affordable housing.  In order to drive early activity, I will be inviting applications for funding under the Serviced Sites Fund by the end of next week.

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