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Local Authority Housing.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 May 2006

Thursday, 4 May 2006

Ceisteanna (2)

Eamon Gilmore

Ceist:

2 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of dwellings delivered to date under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000; the number of such units which were for social housing and for affordable housing; the number of private house completions since the commencement date of the Planning and Development Act 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16671/06]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (13 píosaí cainte)

Part V is being actively operated in all local authority areas and provision of homes for first-time buyers and young families under it is gathering momentum. Up to the end of 2005, 701 social and 1,470 affordable housing units were delivered to local authorities. Output last year was more than double that in 2004. In addition to the number of housing units, 38 land transfers to local authorities have been completed to the end of 2005 involving some 20 hectares; a further 213 partially or fully serviced sites have been transferred to local authorities and voluntary housing bodies; and over €24.5 million has been received in lieu of land. This output reflects the use of the various flexible options now available to satisfy Part V obligations.

Further evidence of increased activity is that at the end of 2005, some 2,500 units were under construction and a further 3,500 were proposed under agreements reached with developers. It is envisaged that over 8,000 social and affordable units will be delivered under Part V in the next three years.

I have no doubt that Part V will play an increasing role in the delivery of social and affordable housing in the future. However, it is not intended that Part V should be the only mechanism for the provision of social and affordable housing. The main local authority housing construction programme, together with the voluntary and co-operative construction programme and the various affordable programmes, continue to be the major contributors to the national social rented and affordable housing stock.

The delivery of units, new homes, is my Department's preferred option when reaching agreement with developers and I have and will continue to stress to all local authorities to pursue vigorously this option in their Part V negotiations.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I understand that up to the end of 2005, just over 2,000 units of accommodation were delivered under Part V of the Planning and Development Act and that he expects another 8,000 over the next three years. This is a far cry from the predictions made by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, when he introduced the Bill in this House. He told us that Part V would produce an additional 35,000 local authority units, help to increase the output of voluntary housing to 4,000 a year and produce 2,000 units per year under the existing local authority affordable and shared ownership schemes. On top of that, we would have the affordable houses expected under Part V.

The output of 2,000 units since the commencement of the Act in 2000 until end-2005 is a far cry from the numbers predicted by the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, 35,000 plus 4,000 per year, which would be another 20,000 units, giving us a total of 55,000 plus the output of the existing schemes. The Minister of State criticised me previously for saying that Part V should have produced 30,000 units, but Deputy Dempsey thought it would produce between 50,000 and 60,000 units. The figure of 2,000 is a poor result against the predictions made.

Deputy Gilmore cites the figure 35,000, but I am not sure what period was covered by that figure. Was it over a ten-year or five-year period? If we take last year's output, overall housing output for the year was 81,000. Using rough figures that would apply any year, of that number approximately 20,000 would be one-off houses, 7,000 or 8,000 would be social, affordable or voluntary houses and approximately 40,000 were exempted because they were part of developments of fewer than four houses, built on unzoned land or built as part of planning permissions that were obtained and, perhaps, stockpiled before the introduction of Part V.

In time the stockpiles of old planning permissions will die out, probably over the next 18 months to two years, and we will have a better hold on the situation. Once-off housing and developments of fewer than four units will always exist. The output depends on what is built in the overall market, but in time output will improve. I agree it has been slow to develop, but this happens. There are no housing measures which will provide instant action. As the old planning permissions wither and die out, the output from Part V will increase significantly and have an input on social and affordable housing.

The Minister of State says it will all happen in time. How much more time does he need to provide for the housing needs of people who cannot afford to buy their own home or those who need social housing? He has had nine years to do it, including six since the Planning and Development Act was passed, but has only produced 2,000 under Part V. He says this is because old planning permissions were stockpiled. The permissions were stockpiled because when they were due to expire at the end of 2000 and he changed the law in such a way that Part V could not apply to them. He handed back approximately 80,000 sites to which Part V would have applied and that is the reason the policy is not working. It is not working because he scuttled it.

The Minister of State has ended up with just over 2,000 units when he should have somewhere between my modest estimate of 30,000 units and the 50,000 to 60,000 estimate of the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who is given to some exaggeration.

Is that over a ten-year period or what?

How much time does the Minister of State want? He has had more than nine years to do it, but he has doubled the number of people on council waiting lists in that time. House prices are three or four times what they were when the Government came into office and working families on two incomes cannot afford to buy houses they could have bought on one income then. How much time does the Minister of State need to solve the housing needs of the people? How much time does the Government deserve from people on council waiting lists, who cannot afford to buy their own home or who are driven further out into the commuter belt? How long will it be before Part V delivers what the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, predicted it would deliver?

There is no point in talking about nine years when the Act has not been passed for half of that time. We need time for planning permissions to run out, normally five years.

They ran out at the end of 2002 and the Minister of State handed them back.

Any of the new houses for sale and on view on a Saturday or Sunday or in the property pages of the newspapers are houses that got planning permission before the Act was passed. We changed the law at the end of 2002 to encourage supply.

Supply for whom? It was not for those who cannot afford to buy.

It was to supply housing for all the extra people working and earning a living in this economy who have the money to buy.

They cannot afford to buy a home of their own.

They are buying homes. Who does the Deputy think bought the 81,000 units built last year? It was mainly first-time buyers.

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