Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2017
2055. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of affordable housing units that have been acquired or constructed in 2017 to date; the location of such affordable house building by county; the definition of affordable housing by couples and individuals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38619/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2011, given the prevailing housing market conditions, the Government stood down the various Affordable Housing Schemes in operation at the time (the 1999 Affordable Housing Scheme, affordable housing provision under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Affordable Housing Initiative). Local authorities have been carrying a certain stock of unsold affordable houses, mainly acquired under Part V, which they generally have been renting to social housing tenants. A small number of affordable houses may have been sold by local authorities in recent years.
Housing affordability for individual households is a unique function of, inter alia, income, prevailing market prices and rents in different locations and access to funding and finance. There has been a very significant amount of research undertaken on this topic and, while there is no universally ideal price/rent to income ratio or minimum residual income requirement, there is broad agreement that ideally households should be spending no more than one third of their net income on housing costs over the longer term.
In terms of housing supply and other housing indicators, my Department publishes Monthly Housing Activity Reports that draw together the most up-to-date data on housing activity indicators, such as planning permissions, housing development site commencements, ESB connections, social housing output, and average residential purchase and rental prices. The latest monthly report can be accessed on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following weblink: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/house-building-activity-gathering-strength-and-pace/ .
As signalled, the issue of housing affordability is being examined by my Department, including consideration of the latest data on household incomes, observed rents and house purchase prices, in the context of the ongoing focused review of Rebuilding Ireland . I expect this work to be concluded in the coming weeks and I will be considering the potential role of new initiatives in that context.
