Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Local Authority Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 July 2012

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Ceisteanna (177)

Joanna Tuffy

Ceist:

179 Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total amount of funding provided for the construction of local authority housing in the State from 2008 to date in 2012; if he will provide a breakdown of the number of houses built in each local authority area during these dates; if an assessment has been carried out regarding future social housing needs; the projected number of local authority houses believed necessary by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32653/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department collates and publishes a wide range of housing statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of housing policy. The full range of data compiled can be viewed on my Department's website, www.environ.ie, where data on Local Authority completions, broken down by county, are displayed.

My Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authorities' waiting lists or any projection of the number of households that may, in the future, apply for social housing or the length of time that households will spend on waiting lists. The number of households on waiting lists continuously fluctuates as households are allocated housing and new households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is available on my Department's website —www.environ.ie or on the Housing Agency’s website at www.housing.ie.

In terms of the delivery of social housing, the Government's housing policy statement, published in June 2011, clearly identifies that the priority for Government will be to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as the Rental Accommodation Scheme and leasing, but the Government is also committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease and the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies for construction and acquisition. There is also obvious potential, across a range of housing programmes, for the Government's objective of sourcing and providing suitable residential units for use as social housing to be aligned with the commercial objectives of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). In spite of the challenging circumstances within which local authorities are forced to operate, a tentative projection of 4,000 to 4,500 housing units is anticipated for 2012. Projected levels of activity in 2013 and beyond will be subject to the financial provision for housing, which will be determined in the context of the estimates process for each year.

Details of the total amount of funding provided to local authorities for new social housing supply for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and the budgetary provision for 2012 are set out in the following table:

Year

€ Amount

2008

€979,728,785

2009

€690,536,343

2010

€377,657,543

2011

€118,125,839

2012

€111,451,300

Question No. 180 answered with Question No. 167.
Barr
Roinn