I move amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"(f2>a)acknowledges the housing achievements of the Government including;
–significantly increasing overall housing output since coming to office,
–the introduction of an expanded multi-annual local authority housing programme,
–the range of measures taken to expand output of the voluntary housing sector,
–the introduction of a comprehensive integrated strategy to meet the needs of homeless persons,
–the inclusion of housing for the first time in the national development plan and the provision of £6 billion for social and affordable housing over the period of the plan,
–the measures taken by the Government in "Action on House Prices" and "Action on the Housing Market" to increase housing supply and moderate house price increases, and
(f2>b)welcomes the Government's comprehensive, credible and coherent housing strat egy across all housing tenures and sectors including initiatives to:
*maximise and expedite housing supply through
–introducing and financing a serviced land initiative which will deliver over 115,000 additional serviced sites for housing,
–additional investment to remove any significant infrastructural constraints – roads, water, sewerage, public transport, to housing development,
–fast-tracking significant infrastructural projects required to facilitate housing investments,
–preparation and publication of residential density guidelines to ensure more efficient use of housing land,
–a strategic approach to future development in the greater Dublin area and throughout the country,
–initiating the strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area, and ensuring the guidelines are kept up to date,
–taking measures to increase the capacity of the planning system, including increased staffing of local authority planning departments and An Bord Pleanála,
–establishing a housing supply unit within the Department of the Environment and Local Government to ensure urgent and effective delivery of supply measures and to address any bottlenecks;
*comprehensively reforming planning law in the Planning and Development Bill, 1999, including:
–provisions to allow local authorities acquire up to 20% of land being developed for housing at existing use value, or cost price if purchased before publication of the Bill, for social and affordable housing in response to identified need,
–a substantial number of changes designed to streamline the planning system and speed up the processing of planning applications so that delays to necessary development, including housing, are kept to a minimum,
–integrating housing fully into the planning system through the making of housing strategies,
–provisions to ensure sufficient land is zoned for housing,
–the development of more socially integrated communities;
*adopt a long-term strategic approach to planning housing settlements through:
–preparing a national spatial strategy which will identify broad spatial development patterns for areas and set down indicative policies in relation to the location of industrial, residential and rural development to deliver more balanced development between and within regions,
–further refining and implementing of this national approach through regional planning guidelines and individual local authority development plans;
*secure house price stabilisation through:
–increasing housing supply in response to increased demand,
–removing the problem of illiquidity in the second-hand housing market through reducing stamp duty rates on housing,
–withdrawing investor incentives to tackle speculative investment in housing;
*improve access to housing for first-time purchasers through:
–promotion of higher densities in appropriate locations,
–improvements to shared ownership scheme,
–the introduction of new affordable housing scheme,
–reducing stamp duty levels,
–reducing competition from speculative investors for starter housing;
*place the private rented sector on a secure long-term footing through:
–the establishment of a commission on the private rented residential sector which is due to report by the end of June to examine the various issues surrounding the landlord-tenant relationship and to make recommendations designed to improve security of tenure, maintain a fair and reasonable balance between the rights and obligations of both landlords and tenants, increase the supply of rented accommodation and remove constraints to the development of the sector,
–introducing specific tax incentives to increase the supply of student accommodation;
*increase social housing output through:
–investment of £6 billion, in 1999 prices, under the national development plan for the provision and improvement of social and affordable housing and accommodation to meet the needs of 50,000 households over the period 2000-03 and 90,000 households over the period of the plan,
–expansion of the local authority housing programme to deliver 35,500 local authority starts over the plan period and the introduction of a multi-annual programme to ensure more effective planning and implementation of local authority housing delivery,
–significantly increased levels of funding assistance to voluntary housing bodies under the voluntary housing schemes including, for the first time, additional assistance towards site acquisition costs,
–establishment of a dedicated voluntary housing unit to drive the expansion of the voluntary housing sector;
*improve the existing social housing stock through:
–regeneration of Ballymun involving the provision of 2,800 dwellings to replace the existing stock at a total projected cost of £350 million,
–a comprehensive redevelopment programme for a number of inner city flat complexes,
–continuing a high level of funding for the remedial works scheme and extending its coverage;
*ensure the effective delivery and funding of accommodation for groups with special needs including the provision of:
–substantial additional resources have been devoted towards the needs of homeless persons, including doubling the funding for hostel accommodation,
–development of a comprehensive, integrated strategy to combat homelessness including emergency, transitional and long-term responses taking account of matters relating to health, education, employment and home making,
–enactment of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, which provides an updated legislative framework for the provision of Traveller accommodation and requires housing authorities to prepare and adopt five year programmes to meet existing and projected needs of Travellers in their areas;
*significantly increase funding and improve the range of schemes providing targeted assistance to those most vulnerable and those with special needs through:
–increasing the effective maximum disabled person's grant from £8,000 to £14,000 and from two thirds of the cost of works to 90% of cost,
–increasing the effective maximum essential repairs grant from £1,800 to £6,000 and extending the scheme to urban areas,
–increasing funding for the task force on special housing aid for the elderly to record levels, from £4 million in 1997 to £8 million in 2000;
–and supports the continued commitment by the Government to expand the supply of housing across all tenures and to improve access by all income groups to suitable housing accommodation."
I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House on the crucially important subject of housing and to outline yet again the main features of the Government's approach to housing and the degree to which the Government's measures are yielding positive results in a period of extraordinary and unprecedented growth in housing demand.
The Labour Party's motion for discussion here this evening is nothing more than a hopeless attempt to dredge up the hulk of their so-called commission on housing, the report of which was launched by that party for the local elections and promptly and unsurprisingly sank without trace. That they would seek to do this is understandable given the party's poverty of ideas and mix of ideologies but I am genuinely disappointed that the Labour Party still seems unable to grasp even the most basic issues involved.
Its motion is testament to the strong philosophy of control and regulation alive and well in the new Labour Party. The headings alone betray its outdated and discredited philosophy – state intervention, price control, regulation of the market. Of course, no piece of good old-fashioned socialist rhetoric would be complete without a call for the establishment of a quango or two. Its lack of understanding of the real world is illustrated clearly by the absence in its motion of any mention of the need to address supply and capacity bottlenecks or the need for a strategic approach to development planning.
In December 1994, Labour Party Ministers took up office in two Departments of key influence in relation to housing – the Departments of the Environment and Finance. Why, during their two and a half years in Government, did they not take action to address the problems that were clearly developing in the housing area? The motion refers to 70% price increases since this Government took office. What it neglects to state is that almost half of that increase took place in this Government's first year, directly as a result of the previous Government's neglect of the crucially important issue of housing.
Of course, it is not entirely correct to say nothing was done. The trouble is that what was done made matters worse – like the hefty hike in stamp duty on middle of the range houses imposed in the 1997 budget. The result was that the cost of moving house became prohibitive. There was a major blockage in the second-hand market with the knock-on effect that houses were not being released to first time purchasers.
Shortly after the Government took office we commissioned a detailed study of the house prices issue. Even before the study was completed we acted decisively to address the critical housing supply situation with the launch of a serviced land initiative in November 1997. If the previous Government had the foresight or concern to take such an initiative, we would now be reaping the benefit of a large increase both in housing supply and in availability of serviced land.
This Government's priorities have focused on the introduction of a range of measures which aim to maximise and expedite housing supply, secure house price stabilisation and meet increased need for social and affordable housing. The Government has taken a range of initiatives, each building on the others and culminating in the inclusion of housing in the national development plan for the first time, which together provide a comprehensive and coherent response to the major housing issues.
This Government's publication of Action on House Prices in April 1998 was the first of two major policy initiatives aimed at achieving moderation in house price increases and relieving the pressures in the housing market. The primary focus of Action on House Prices was on a range of measures to increase supply. These included doubling the funding, from £15 million to £30 million, for the serviced land initiative and subsequently increasing this to £39 million later in 1998. Some £5 million was provided for specific non-national road schemes opening up land for housing development. Tax measures were also implemented with the aim of bringing residential land quickly into development and to prevent investors pricing first time buyers out of the market.
A number of positive developments took place last year, supported by a continuation of the measures in Action on House Prices and additional measures introduced in Action on the Housing Market which took account of the recommendations in the second Bacon report completed last March. These developments included the publication of guidelines on residen tial density, strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area, the introduction of an affordable housing scheme, improvements to a number of social housing schemes and, of course, drawing up the national development plan.
We are ensuring housing supply continues to be maximised. My Department issued the residential density guidelines to all planning authorities in September 1999, to which they, and An Bord Pleanála, are statutorily required to have regard. Indications are that local authorities and An Bord Pleanála have already taken on board the principles set out in the guidelines. Since their publication An Bord Pleanála has granted appeals for high density development on the Blanchardstown Hospital site, which will yield 1,500 housing units, and a second site in Santry, Demesne, which will yield 1,100 housing units.
Good progress is being made under the serviced land initiative and output under the initiative is expected to exceed the 100,000 units originally envisaged. By the end of this year schemes providing 100,000 sites nationally will either be completed or in construction. Key infrastructure projects such as the Swords treatment works and the north fringe sewer, both of which are critical to the development of the north Dublin area, are progressing well. Tenders for the Swords scheme, which has the capacity to support the development of 8,000 additional housing units, were approved at the end of last year. The north fringe sewer will be completed by mid-2002 rather than 2004, which was originally projected when the second Bacon report was produced. Additional staff have been recruited by An Bord Pleanála and local authorities to accelerate the planning process.
The national development plan published in November last provides for massively increased investment in economic infrastructure such as roads, water, sewerage and public transport, which is essential to support housing development in the period to 2006 and beyond. Never before has State investment in water, sewerage, roads and other services required to open up building land for development been increased so substantially as it has been by the Government since we took office. To give one example, funding for water and sewerage services has increased from £163 million in 1997 to almost £290 million this year, an increase of 78%.
This increased investment is clearly yielding dividends. My Department published details last week of the first national inventory of zoned serviced land which shows that, based on local authority returns, the position in relation to the stock of serviced building land is both encouraging and is set to improve significantly, going forward on foot of further major investment in these services over the period of the national development plan. In Dublin, for example, the supply of zoned and serviced land exceeds 1,000 hectares which is sufficient land for more than 40,000 housing units or four times last year's record output in the Dublin area. House completions in 1999 reached a record 46,512 units nationally, up 9.8% on 1998, which was, in turn, up 9% on 1997. Output in Dublin topped 10,000 units last year, a 12% increase on 1998, while completions in the greater Dublin area totalled 15,228 units, up 7% on 1998.
These measures, taken by this Government, achieved a private housing output of 43,000 units in 1999. This was the level of output projected in the first Bacon report in 1998 that would be required to achieve stability in the housing market. We have achieved the targets we set, which many economists thought were too ambitious. However, extremely strong economic growth, employment growth and immigration means that we must redouble our efforts. The indications are that the upward trend in new house completions is set to continue. HomeBond registrations, a leading indicator of future housing development, rose by 16.5% nationally in 1999, and registrations are up 21.4% nationally in the first five months of 2000, compared to the same period in 1999 and by 38.7% in Dublin city and county.
In spite of continuing high demand, the effects of increased output are reflected in moderating house price trends since house price inflation peaked in 1998. Prices for the first quarter of 2000 in Dublin are showing reductions of 1.1% and 2.7% in the average prices for both new and second-hand homes, respectively – the first time that average house prices have dropped since 1995.
Year-on-year new and second-hand house prices rose by 13% and 14% nationally, the lowest increases since 1996. This we have been able to achieve despite the lack of foresight and financial planning on the part of the previous Government.
Of course, the Labour Party's knee-jerk response is to introduce price control in a classic case of the economics of illusion. Otherwise it would hardly insult the intelligence of the people with the discredited concept of new house price control. What happens when the new house becomes a second-hand house? This Government is acting to curb speculation in housing. Artificial controls on new houses would facilitate this. Who will issue these "fair price" certificates or on what basis? A similar approach was tried in the past and proved ineffective and in many ways counter-productive. It would not cause a single extra house to be built. It could retard housing supply if, as inevitably would be the case, it gave rise to an elaborate bureaucratic process. Few, if any, credible commentators seriously suggest that artificial price control offers a sensible approach to addressing the real issues currently affecting the housing market.
The Government is addressing where our growing population will live and how people will get from their homes to work, school and other amenities which are central to our quality of life. We are preparing a national spatial development strategy which will identify broad spatial development patterns for areas and set down indicative policies on the location of industrial, residential and rural development. The strategy will attempt to deliver more balanced development between and within regions. Strategic planning guidelines have been launched by the Government which will form the basis of a development strategy for the overall Dublin and mid-east area. This strategy in the regional guidelines will be implemented at sub-regional level by local authorities through their development plans.
The Labour Party's proposals make no reference to one of the most fundamental changes to Irish planning law which is contained in the Planning and Development Bill, 1999, currently at Report Stage. Part V of the Bill requires local authorities to prepare housing strategies addressing the housing needs in the area covered by their development plans, including the need for social and affordable housing. The Bill requires them to zone sufficient land to meet these needs. Up to 20% of land zoned for residential development may be set aside to meet the assessed social and affordable housing need. The Bill permits local authorities to secure this land at existing use value from developers. This provision will secure significant tracts of residential development land for local authorities on completion of their housing strategies.
The provisions in Part V recognise that the value of land is increased manifold by a local authority decision to zone land. No person is entitled to have his or her land zoned and it is perfectly reasonable that the greater community, through the local authority, should be able to reap for the public good an appropriate proportion of the gain it confers on the landowner. The landowner will be able to get full development value for the remaining 80% of the land involved and will not suffer any loss on the land transferred to the local authority. This approach will make land available to local authorities at low cost, while not interfering unfairly or in an arbitrary manner with the property rights of the landowner. Local authorities have been asked to press ahead with working up their housing strategies so that they can be in place at the earliest possible date following commencement of the Bill.
The acid test that must be applied to the Labour Party proposals in this area is whether they will bring land into development more quickly or at a cheaper cost than can be achieved at present. The simple fact is that they achieve neither of these. Contrary to how the Labour Party would portray its proposals, there is no quick-fix, bargain basement solution to moderating house prices through wholesale acquisition of land. This Labour Party motion implies that we should send out housing officers with cheque books to compete for land and further drive up prices. This is another example of the lack of rigorous analysis underlying this motion.
At a time when our objective is to accelerate and increase the supply of housing, the Labour Party seeks to impose another layer of bureaucracy in the form of a national housing authority, which, of course, would have the opposite effect and cause a hiatus in the supply response. Does the Labour Party propose we should set aside the local authority system and that the national housing authority should usurp its role? The local authority response over the last few years has been commendable under very difficult circumstances. I wonder how enthusiastic Labour Party councillors throughout the country would be about losing housing functions to a national housing authority, or about the slur implied in the reference to "local housing authorities who are unable to achieve their housing targets".
The Government will seek to strengthen and resource the structures that are already in place in the Department and in local authorities to secure the necessary supply of housing and seek to expand the capacity of the construction industry to achieve a further increment in the supply response.
With regard to the private rented residential sector, the Government established a commission last July to examine and make recommendations on a wide range of issues relating to the sector, including improved security of tenure, maintaining a fair and reasonable balance between the respective rights and obligations of landlords and tenants and increasing investment in, and the supply of, accommodation in the sector. The membership of the commission includes representatives of landlords, tenants, the legal profession and property investment interests, together with relevant Departments.
The commission was asked to report by 1 June 2000. However, the chairman, on behalf of the commission, asked to extend the deadline by one month and the request was acceded to. In making the request, the chairman indicated that a considerable effort had been expended on trying to reach consensus on the key areas of security of tenure, dispute resolution mechanisms and rent reviews, and that the additional time would facilitate the commission in seeking to achieve as much consensus as possible. The Government is now expecting the report of the commission at the end of June or early July and intends to arrange for its publication after we receive it. In conjunction with its publication, the action the Government proposes to take on foot of the recommendations contained in the report will be announced.
While not wishing to pre-empt the contents of the report, I anticipate that recommendations will relate to changes required to the legislative and regulatory frameworks, with a view to achieving better enforcement of an agreed framework and to removing certain legal difficulties that currently exist; improved dispute resolution mechanisms, including the possible establishment of a new body with mediation and arbitration functions; measures to improve security of tenure, to provide greater awareness of mutual rights and obligations and to amend notice to quit periods to reflect length of tenancies; and measures to promote the development of the sector and, in particular, to facilitate increased supply of accommodation with a view to meeting longer term housing needs.
I expect the commission will identify areas where changes can be made, leading to a rented sector which provides an excellent service to tenants and an appropriate return to landlords. The objective is to enable the sector develop to its maximum potential so it may be seen as a tenure of choice, along with social housing or home ownership.
In the past two years the Government has taken measures to boost supply of private rented accommodation and to provide additional support for people in private rented residential accommodation. Substantial increases in tax relief for tenants took effect from the current tax year. The protection afforded to tenants under the registration of rented houses regulations has also been improved. In January last, the regulations were amended to provide that the onus is now on the landlord to prove that a dwelling is exempt from the requirements of the regulations and to remove the exemption from the regulations on the grounds that the letting is of a "temporary convenience" nature.
Targeted incentives for the provision of student accommodation were introduced in the Finance Act, 1999. I am pleased to say that some 1,100 places should be available by October of this year and more than 7,500 places are at various stages of planning. It seems the Labour Party has missed the boat on this one.
Instead, the motion calls for rent control. Rent control proved disastrous for the private rented sector in this country, as it did in any other country in which it was imposed. EU countries are now trying to get rid of any vestiges of rent control that have sent their private rented sectors into decline. Above all, rent controls would not provide a single extra rented house or apartment. They convey an enormous advantage on persons already in rented accommodation and, of course, effectively ensure that no accommodation will be available for those seeking rented accommodation in the coming years.
On the question of rent assistance for private rental accommodation, the Government has decided in principle to establish a new local authority rent assistance scheme in accordance with the main recommendations in an interdepartmental committee report published last August. This would replace, in the main, the current arrangements for rent supplementation under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.
A planning group, under the aegis of my Department, which commenced work in April 2000, will report towards the end of this year with detailed proposals on rental assistance to enable the Government to take definitive decisions on future arrangements. It will also address a range of issues arising in the implementation of new arrangements and examine the possible scope for improvements in the existing SWA scheme, pend ing the introduction of new arrangements. Some improvements to the existing scheme have already been introduced in this year's budget and Social Welfare Bill, particularly in relation to arrangements for retention of supplements by people making the transition from welfare to work.
The key aims in the rent-assisted housing sector are to achieve greater effectiveness in meeting housing needs, maximum co-ordination of housing policy and effective arrangements to ensure needs are met. This will include retention of a welfare safety net for urgent income support needs, while avoiding, as far as possible, factors which could promote further imbalance between supply and demand in the private rental sector.
I want to make it clear, however, that we have no intention of repeating the mistakes made in the UK where the introduction of a "housing benefit" system in the 1980s contributed to the creation of a high rent and chronic dependency environment. Many tenants are caught in a benefit trap – they cannot afford to leave the system and there is a major disincentive to improve their earnings.
I am a little surprised that the Labour Party would wish to be associated with an approach that had its origin in Thatcherite ideology designed to undermine the position of local authorities. I am not surprised, however, that it would advocate a system that has proved something of a bureaucratic nightmare. It is well accepted that the UK housing benefit system has resulted in a high degree of complexity, cost, fraud and administrative difficulties generally. It is a system that does not appear to have served either the taxpayer or the tenant well and it has defied reform by successive Governments.
Introducing an expanded system of benefits or any other device that would inject more money into the market is not the answer. Indeed, it would be counterproductive in a situation where there is imbalance between supply of and demand for private rental accommodation. As is the case in the housing sector generally, it is important to focus on the supply side and this will be a key consideration for the planning group which is examining new rental assistance arrangements.
The group's work is at a relatively early stage. One of the important issues which it will explore is the potential for more supply focused approaches to rental assistance, including possible arrangements and measures needed to promote improvements in standards and supply of rent assisted accommodation. The objective will not be simply to transfer what is largely a welfare payment scheme to local authorities or, as the Labour Party motion would imply, to create an expensive, bureaucratic and counterproductive system of housing benefit.
This Government has for the first time provided a long-term framework for the funding of social and affordable housing through the inclusion of £6 billion in the national develop ment plan earmarked for social and affordable housing. This allocation, which averages over £850 million per annum, reflects the commitment of the Government to tackle social and affordable housing need. The investment will ensure that the housing needs of over 90,000 households will be met with Government assistance over the plan period.
The plan provides for an increase in the local authority housing programme with funding for 35,500 starts, front-loaded to meet existing demand more quickly. It also provides for the expansion of voluntary housing activity with funding for over 15,000 voluntary housing dwellings. Funding is also included for the provision by local authorities of 7,000 affordable houses and for 7,000 households to acquire homes under the shared ownership scheme. Investment in additional accommodation for the homeless and for Travellers is also included.
Resources are being provided for the remedial works scheme which targets the improvement and upgrading of low cost, pre-1960 dwellings and run-down urban estates. Area based regeneration initiatives to restore the physical fabric of established areas and to support local communities will also be supported, most notably the redevelopment of Ballymun and a number of inner city flat complexes. The previous Government announced the redevelopment of Ballymun but, in typical fashion, provided no funding for a project estimated to cost over £350 million.
This Government has also significantly increased the funding available and improved the range of schemes providing targeted assistance to improve the living conditions of those most vulnerable and those with special needs. We have increased the effective maximum disabled person's grant available from £8,000 to £14,000 and allowed 90% of the cost to be recouped as opposed to the two thirds of cost grant we inherited. We have increased the effective maximum essential repairs grant from £1,800 to £6,000 and extended the scheme to urban areas. Funding for the task force on special housing aid for the elderly has been increased to record levels – from £4 million in 1997 to £8 million in 2000.
Investment in the local authority and social housing programmes is over £440 million in 2000, up almost 150% on the £180 million the previous Government provided in the 1997 Estimates. A multi-annual approach to the local authority housing programme has been adopted which will allow for greater forward planning and efficiencies of scale in delivering the 22,000 additional local authority houses to be started over the next four years.
One wonders how much thought the proponents of this motion have given to the implications of their demands of 50,000 new houses to be built by local authorities for the next four years. It will put local authorities under considerable pressure to deliver the local authority multi-annual programme together with a greatly expanded voluntary housing programme as well as securing increased output under the affordable housing scheme and the range of other social and affordable housing measures already in train.
Leaving aside the practical constraints, however, the effect of the suggested crash programme of local authority house building would inevitably see a return to the provision of large, soulless, peripheral local authority housing estates, remote from good public transport, amenities or jobs. This is not a policy which this Government will countenance. I challenge the Labour Party to say whether it supports the building of large-scale local authority housing schemes and perhaps it would identify some areas where those schemes might be built.
When I allocated housing starts to the local authorities last year I asked them to front-load their building programmes as much as possible to meet increased needs. The implementation of this programme is being followed up by my Department and my officials have been saying to local authorities that they should try to start as many houses as they are capable of commencing this year. In effect, they have a carte blanche to start as many as they wish and the Department will facilitate them in doing so. Funding is not a barrier and no local authority is being refused capital funding.
Of course, the Labour Party is quite capable of saying different things to different people, depending on which audience it is facing. It is calling for the provision of 50,000 local authority houses in this Chamber, yet its members are quite capable of going back to their local authority areas and opposing individual developments on the ground. I can find no evidence of a strong push for more local authority housing from Labour councillors in their own local authorities. Let us see the evidence of their campaign in each local authority for more social housing. There is none and its absence only serves to show the hypocrisy of this motion.
We recently saw Deputy Gilmore express his concern over the number of vacant housing units in the Dublin area, saying that these should be immediately made available to those on the waiting lists. These concerns are shallow indeed and he deliberately avoided saying why many flats in the Dublin area are vacant. The practical explanation for the increase in the number of vacant flats in Dublin in recent months is that the Department is funding major renovations to a series of flat complexes in the inner city which require major regeneration. This work is now commencing and it is necessary for Dublin Corporation to vacate the flats and move tenants to other accommodation. Examples of where these major renovations are being undertaken include St. Joseph's Mansions, St. Michael's Estate and within the Ballymun area.
These are concrete examples of important regeneration programmes being funded by my Department and they are being progressed on the ground. Does Deputy Gilmore not support these major projects or is he suggesting that we abandon them completely and simply relet what is substandard accommodation to those on waiting lists? He will be familiar with this type of project in his own local authority area and I am confident that he is not suggesting that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council should abandon the redevelopment of the Hillview Court flats in Ballinteer and relet the flats which are about to be demolished.
This Government recognises the important contribution to social housing needs by the voluntary housing sector and is committed to increasing output from the sector. This commitment is reflected in the national development plan which provides for the necessary resources for the sector.
I am delighted that the Labour Party is belatedly supporting the strengthening and resourcing of the voluntary housing sector. When I was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for housing, the voluntary sector was practically on its knees because the funding available had not kept pace with the increase in building and tender costs. The levels of assistance available under both voluntary housing schemes operated by my Department were increased substantially on two occasions since this Government took office – in November 1997 and again in October 1999 – to take account of rising construction costs and to stimulate greater activity in the voluntary housing sector. In addition, for the first time, additional assistance towards site acquisition costs by voluntary bodies was introduced. These steps have resulted in increased activity at local level in the voluntary housing sector. The levels of assistance to this sector will be kept under review on an ongoing basis by the Government.
Further steps which have been implemented aimed at facilitating the growth of the sector include the establishment within the Department of a dedicated unit with responsibility for all aspects of voluntary housing and a remit to expand and develop the sector. A working group on voluntary housing has been established to identify and advise on changes to procedures and schemes governing the voluntary housing sector, on ways of further expanding the sector and of increasing its output. The group consists of representatives of the voluntary and co-operative housing movement and local authority and Department officials.
This Government has provided the increased support to the voluntary housing sector that the Labour Party only talks about and I am committed to continuing this support.
The Government is also committed to tackling the problem of homelessness. As a measure of its commitment, it recently launched the integrated strategy on homelessness which offers a new approach to the way in which services for the homeless are to be planned, funded and provided. The strategy aims to provide an integrated response from all statutory and voluntary agen cies providing services to the homeless. The Government has made substantial current and capital funding available to ensure that the measures outlined in the strategy are implemented.
Under the strategy each county and county borough is required to establish a homeless forum, for the delivery of homeless services on a joint basis, consisting of representatives from the local authorities within their area, the health board and the voluntary bodies operating in the county.