Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 April 2024
66. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he agrees that inadequate HAP rates and social housing income limits and the lack of three and four-bed social housing are contributing to long-term homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15659/24]
View answerSupporting individuals and families facing homelessness is priority for the Government. Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is increasing the supply of housing. My Department is prioritising measures which focus on accelerating social and affordable housing supply through a combination of new build, targeted acquisitions and leasing. Record levels of investment are being provided under Housing for All to support the delivery of housing. In 2024, over €5bn in investment is available to support the delivery of housing.
A key action of Housing for All required local authorities to develop Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of social and affordable housing delivery. The Plans set out details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022-2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. In developing their Plans local authorities were asked to make adequate provision for 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes in line with local need.
Budget 2024 allocated funding of over €242 million for the delivery of homeless services. This funding will support the provision of emergency accommodation and related supports, including increased prevention activity. Local authorities and their service delivery partners will work closely with all households in emergency accommodation to support them to secure an exit to a tenancy.
My Department continues to keep income limits and eligibility model for social housing under review. Following a review conducted by my Department in 2022, the Government agreed to my recommendation to increase the baseline social housing income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities effective from 1 January 2023. The thresholds increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for bands 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
In addition, my Department recently received detailed research, commissioned by The Housing Agency, the scope of which included examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and population conditions and the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since the standardised income limits were introduced.
My Department will now undertake a detailed examination of the report, including consultation with stakeholders. This detailed examination will look at, inter alia, how the social housing income limits system interacts with other housing supports and ensure that they continue to target households correctly.
In regards to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), since July 2022, each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single persons’ households. Discretion can be increased up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits for Homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin. It should be noted that it is a matter for the local authority to determine whether the application of the flexibility is warranted on a case-by-case basis and also the level of discretion applied in each case.
My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review and closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into account other sources of data, including Residential Tenancies Board rent data published on a quarterly basis.
Additional supports are available under HAP for homeless households or households at risk of homelessness nationwide. While eligible households or individuals may source accommodation for themselves under the Homeless HAP scheme, a dedicated resource, the Place Finder Service, has been established nationwide to provide assistance. The Place Finder service assists households in, or at immediate risk of, homelessness primarily by providing access to deposits and advance rental payments. These elements are the core financial supports and are available to prospective tenants in all local authority areas.
