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Local Authority Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 February 2019

Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Questions (26, 38, 58)

Mick Barry

Question:

26. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he is satisfied that the supply of new local authority housing is meeting demand. [8476/19]

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Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

38. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the details of new homes provided by local authorities in 2018 under the various categories of provision including build, lease, voids refurbishing and acquisition by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8245/19]

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Mick Wallace

Question:

58. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of direct build social houses delivered by all 31 local authorities in 2018 excluding those built by approved housing bodies and Part V; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8471/19]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 38 and 58 together.

Qualified households on social housing waiting lists can have a wide variety of housing needs and it is therefore important that there is a blend of social housing delivery mechanisms available that can meet those diverse needs in the most effective manner.  Under Rebuilding Ireland, the aim is to meet the housing needs of some 138,000 households over the 6 year period 2016 to 2021, and provision is made for this to be achieved through a mix of different mechanisms.  These include build, acquisition and leasing schemes delivered by local authorities or in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS). 

Just over two years ago there were over 90,000 households on local authority housing waiting lists.  By June 2018, the number had reduced to less than 72,000 and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years. Over the three year period 2016 to 2018, some 72,000 additional households across the country had their housing needs met.  In 2018 alone, just over 27,100 households were supported, 6% ahead of the overall target for the year. 

In January 2018, I committed to publishing individual targets for housing delivery in each local authority area to enable greater transparency and accountability when it comes to increasing the stock of social housing and responding to social housing needs more generally.  With over €6 billion committed to Rebuilding Ireland, it is vital that this public funding is used efficiently to deliver new homes and that this can be demonstrated clearly.

Data in relation to 2018 social housing output against target, broken down by local authority area, has just been published on the statistics page of my Department's website. Overall, a very strong performance versus the national target for the year was achieved.  That is not to say, however, that delivery by individual local authorities was consistently strong.  At a Housing Summit with local authority Chief Executives last week, I took the opportunity to discuss their individual delivery pipelines and I heard from them about local plans and actions to further accelerate output.

Looking specifically at build, acquisition and leasing schemes, Rebuilding Ireland supported local authorities to deliver 8,422 homes to households on their waiting lists in 2018. This included:

- 3,410 local authority and AHB new build, 2,022 of which were delivered through local authorities, plus 841 local authority and AHB Part V homes, bringing the overall new build figure for 2018 to 4,251, up 85% on 2017;

- 560 voids;

- 2,610 local authority and AHB acquisitions, up 17% on 2017; and

- 1,001 local authority and AHB leases, up 21% on 2017.

The evolution of the social housing programme is clear from the overall 2018 performance.  While the level of new build social housing homes was more than 8 times the level in 2015, the year before Rebuilding Ireland was introduced, the level of new HAP supports remained static last year and will decline over the coming years.

I recognise that the blend of delivery will vary across areas depending on local circumstances. However, my message to local authorities has been consistent and it is a message that every possible effort must be made to, at minimum, achieve our targets, if not exceed them.  The range of delivery schemes, funding and resources are in place to support this and while I am pleased that 2018 showed a strong performance overall, there is no room for complacency.  I will therefore be continuing to engage proactively with local authorities to ensure that any impediments to progress are addressed.

Questions Nos. 27 to 31, inclusive, answered orally.
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