Skip to main content
Normal View

Housing Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019

Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Questions (74)

James Browne

Question:

74. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans to address the housing crisis in County Wexford; if he will consider establishing Gorey as a rent pressure zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1409/19]

View answer

Written answers

Over the course of the 6-year Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan, the Government is committed to meeting the housing needs of over 137,000 households. The implementation of Rebuilding Ireland is well underway and making significant progress. Annual delivery targets were exceeded in 2016 and again in 2017. By end September 2018, over 63,700 additional social housing solutions had already been provided under the plan. The level of progress being made is reflected in social housing waiting lists, which have reduced by 22% nationally, from 91,600 households to 71,858, between 2016 and 2018. In Wexford, the number of households on waiting lists has reduced by 15% in one year alone, falling from 2,577 in 2017 to 2,177 in 2018.

In relation to social housing construction activity, my Department publishes comprehensive status reports on a quarterly basis of all social housing construction schemes for all local authority areas. The most recent of these reports covers the period up to the end of quarter 3 2018 and contains information on the progress of over 17,536 new social housing homes, which are currently approved and progressing through planning, design and construction, as well as homes delivered to end quarter 3 2018.

The report shows that Wexford County Council, and the Approved Housing Bodies it is working with, have a social housing construction programme of 54 projects already complete or at planning, design, tender or construction stage, which will deliver 591 homes when complete.

Local authorities have also been undertaking targeted acquisitions with a particular focus on vacant properties in order to avoid increasing pressure and competition in local property markets.

My Department continues to engage actively with all local authorities, including Wexford County Council, to deliver social housing through all available avenues, with a particular emphasis on additional construction projects.

In relation to the rental sector, section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 , as amended, provides that the Housing Agency, in consultation with housing authorities, may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone. Following receipt of such a proposal, the Minister requests the Director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to conduct an assessment of the area to establish whether or not it meets the criteria for designation and to report to the Minister on whether the area should be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone. For the purpose of the Act, ‘area’ is defined as either the administrative area of a housing authority or a local electoral area within the meaning of section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001.

For an area to be designated a Rent Pressure Zone, it must satisfy the following criteria set out in section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as inserted by section 36 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016):

(i) the annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and

(ii) the average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the average national rent (the National Standardised Rent in the RTB’s Rent Index Report) in the last quarter (€1,122 per month in Q3 2018).

The RTB Rent Index Report includes a summary in Table 9 of the data used to establish whether each Local Electoral Area fulfils the criteria for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone. This ensures transparency in relation to the position of individual areas in terms of average rent levels and increases.

Further information on Rent Pressure Zones and designations is available on my Department's website at https://www.housing.gov.ie/PUBLICATIONS, by searching 'rent pressure zones - information'.

The data from the Rent Index Report for Q3 2018 relating to the local electoral area of Gorey, County Wexford is detailed in the table.

Local Electoral Area

Quarters > 7%

Average 2018 Q3

Gorey

5

€853.81

In Gorey, while more than 4 of the last 6 quarters have seen rent inflation of 7% or greater, the average monthly rent is below the national standardised rent of €1,122 per month. Therefore, the Local Electoral Area of Gorey does not meet the criteria for designation at this time.

The Housing Agency continues to monitor the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation. Where, following the procedures set out in the Act, it is found at a future date that additional areas meet the criteria, they will be designated as Rent Pressure Zones.

Top
Share