Michael Healy-Rae
Question:814. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1317/24]
View answerWednesday, 17 January 2024
Questions (814)
Written answers
This Government is acutely aware of the housing accommodation and affordability challenges faced by many sectors of society including the health sector. Housing for All, is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes and 54,000 affordable homes by 2030. The Government recognises that more needs to be done to support homebuyers, including single individuals, and middle-income earners, as detailed in Housing for All. My Department has introduced a multi-faceted approach to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system.
Under Pathway 1 of Housing for All, “Pathways to Home Ownership and Increasing Affordability”, I have introduced a number of schemes including the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme and the First Home Shared Equity Scheme, to assist first time buyers in purchasing their new homes. Other measures, such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan are also nationally available to eligible first-time purchasers to make home ownership more affordable.
The Land Development Agency (LDA) is tasked with the proactive management of the State’s extensive land bank. The LDA is assembling strategic land banks from a mix of public and private lands, making these available for housing in a controlled manner, helping to provide essential long-term stability to the Irish housing market.
Under Housing for All, each Government Department/Agency was asked to examine their existing portfolio of properties. This was to ensure that every effort was made to identify land and properties which could be re-purposed for housing. The Government has agreed the transfer of twenty-eight strategic sites in public ownership to the LDA to advance the delivery of housing. Work is ongoing to identify other state-owned lands that may be available or under-utilised and suitable for housing. The recent statutory Report on Relevant Lands, identified a total of eighty three sites in ten main urban locations (cities and key growth towns). My Department has engaged with all site owners identified in the Report and I expect that further site recommendations for possible transfer will arise from this process.
Given the high priority the Government places on the use of appropriate state lands to support social and affordable housing delivery, the Department of the Taoiseach chairs a State Lands and Property Group, reporting to the Cabinet Committee on Housing, to monitor progress on the transfer of State lands to the LDA.
In relation to the use of public parks, the ongoing retention, provision and management of public open space for use by citizens is a key aspect of ensuring adequate amenity for communities. These open spaces have significant benefits for citizens through facilitating active and passive use, space and respite. Ensuring continued access to high quality public space plays a part in more sustainable development of urban land in accordance with National, Regional and Local planning objectives. Redevelopment of parkland would undermine the effectiveness of ensuring that open space is retained to accommodate a growing population in urban centres.
Question No. 815 answered with Question No. 727.