Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
322. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the extent to which he continues to liaise with the various local authorities throughout the country with a view to the elimination of obstacles that tend to slow down funding towards housing by the various local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3549/22]
View answer324. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing projects currently available and ready to go in respect of private or public sectors by county; the specific or particular obstacles to enabling such projects to proceed immediately in the event of there being a common problem; if the issue can be addressed at an early date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3551/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 322 and 324 together.
The recently published Housing for All strategy is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade, including an average of 10,000 social homes per annum from 2022-2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4b per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn in funding through the Housing Finance Agency over a five year period.
The Department's administrative and funding measures are put in place to support and foster the development of social and affordable housing and to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. Under Housing for All, a whole of Government approach is being taken to further improve and streamline those processes which support the delivery of housing across all tenures. Increasing the overall supply of housing is at the centre of the Housing for All plan. This includes direct investment in social and affordable housing, reforms to ensure availability of land, measures to support the viability of development and ensuring there is sufficient investment and capacity to support housing construction.
The latest data on Commencement Notices shows that a total number of 30,724 residential dwellings commenced in 2021: a 42% increase compared to 2020 (21,686). Of the 30,724 new dwellings commenced in 2021, 82.7% of these were scheme developments (25,409) and 17.3% were single houses (5,315).
In the year to Quarter 3 2021, almost 21,000 new dwellings were completed. This represents a 6.8% year-on-year increase. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will publish its Q4 2021 New Dwelling Completions data in the coming days with completions for 2022 and 2023 projected to exceed the Housing for All targets of 22,600 and 29,000 respectively. The Central Bank forecasts that some 27,000 and 31,000 homes will be completed in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The most recent CSO figures on planning permissions also show a strong pipeline with almost 40,000 units (apartments/flats and houses) granted planning permission in the 12 months to end Q3 2021.
A detailed Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) is published each quarter by my Department. The CSR provides details of the individual social housing new build projects, that make up the new build programme for each local authority. The most recent publication covers the period up to the end of Quarter 3 2021, and is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/feea9-social-housing-construction-projects-status-report-q3-2021/.
There has been extensive engagement between my Department and local authorities, both on the preparation of Housing for All and its implementation. I held two summits with local authority chief executives in 2021, in addition to bi-lateral engagements with most local authorities. I will be holding another summit with local authority chief executives in February, focused on the implementation of Housing for All measures.
A key action under Housing for All required local authorities to prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan, setting out details of social and affordable housing delivery over the next five years. All local authorities submitted their plan to me in December and my Department is engaging with local authorities on these plans, in particular their alignment with the targets and policy objectives set out in Housing for All. The Plans will be published in Quarter 2. There will be ongoing engagement with my Department to support the implementation of these Plans.
