Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2017
11. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the way in which the increase in student accommodation is addressing the homelessness situation and the housing lists, particularly in Dublin. [52064/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe question relates to student accommodation. I would like to know the correlation between the increase in student accommodation and how it is affecting or addressing the homelessness situation and housing lists, particularly in Dublin.
Increased availability of dedicated student accommodation can relieve pressure arising in the wider rental sector from students looking to meet their accommodation needs. By extension, this increases the overall housing stock, which in turn assists in addressing wider housing supply issues, providing capacity for other accommodation to be made available to provide solutions for others seeking housing, including households at risk of becoming homeless.
To support and drive increased student accommodation delivery, my Department has implemented several measures under the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, including fast-tracking planning applications directly to An Bord Pleanála for student accommodation projects of 200 or more bed spaces, and facilitating low-cost funding availability from the Housing Finance Agency to the higher education institutes specifically for student accommodation projects. Applications for more than 3,000 units are before An Bord Pleanála at present.
Furthermore, in fulfilment of Action 4.7 of Rebuilding Ireland, the national student accommodation strategy was developed and launched in July by my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and me, in close consultation with my Department, with key targets and actions to support the student accommodation sector.
The combination of these measures will allow for the freeing up of dwellings in the general rental market as students are facilitated to move towards purpose-built student accommodation units, giving other households in the rental sector a better chance to access rental accommodation.
To give Deputy O'Sullivan an idea of the figures, since we launched Rebuilding Ireland in 2016, an additional 2,606 purpose-built student beds have become available to the market; a little over 4,000 are under construction today; planning was lodged for over 4,500 recently; and going through the planning process at present, including some in respect of which planning has been granted, are over 4,500. We are greatly increasing capacity in purpose-built student accommodation, and rightly so. I know there are difficulties of over-concentration in some areas, but some of our actions in the action plan are dealing with that, trying to blend in student accommodation with communities. We are working hard on that too because we want to increase direct build of student accommodation, but in a sustainable way for communities.
We have had this discussion before, and I understand the point the Minister of State made then and makes now that this is an important and a distinct category and that under-provision of student accommodation has meant demands on the private rented sector. However, the point I made then and which I make again now is that we have this urgency and this efficiency in getting student accommodation built - I will leave the other issues for the moment - but a student population is transient. Students are in situ for perhaps seven, possibly eight, months of the year, so there are another four months during which this student accommodation will be available for Airbnb or whatever else. This is a major profit-making opportunity for the builder, for the developer. One of the biggest housing issues I am seeing is the difficulty single men face. When I look at the increase in student accommodation, I do not see it bringing down the housing list. Yet we want the social mix. Why was there no discussion with those who provide student accommodation on the possibility of having some for single people? They could go through the Garda vetting and references and everything else, but then they would have the accommodation for 12 months, or permanently. This, rather than student accommodation, would make a difference to the housing lists.
We are trying to tackle the housing shortage in many different ways, of which purpose-built student accommodation is a very successful one. The demands of students are slightly different from those of families, who need accommodation all year round. We have had some success in this regard. Purpose-built student accommodation will free up other properties in the rental sector. The planning guidelines were changed and clarified in respect of the use of such accommodation for the three or four months during which it is not in use by students in order to make these projects viable. This is why we see increased delivery of student accommodation. It is more viable to do this now. However, there are also very strict conditions as to what these properties can be used for those three or four months of the year. In the majority of cases they are used by international students coming to avail of facilities over the summer months. In fairness, I think much of the new student accommodation is blending in very well with the communities, and rightly so. This will free up properties. We are achieving what the Deputy wants to achieve. The effect is that the housing lists are coming down. We will see this year's figures in a few weeks' time, and I expect they will show this. However, that is not enough. We must keep going, and part of that is an increased supply of direct-build student accommodation. To be clear, it is not just private developers; there is a greater increase now in the higher education institutes delivering their own plans and proposals. Before An Bord Pleanála today are applications for more than 3,500 units directly by the education players themselves.
We discussed before the difficulties that a preponderance of student accommodation brings into an area and a community and the need to address that. On-campus accommodation is excellent because there are ways for the community to engage; with the private sector there is not. This is why the suggestion had been made of some kind of regulator of student accommodation, perhaps combining it with hostel accommodation. The Minister of State still has not answered my question on the fact that student accommodation is vacant for at least four months of the year in most cases, whereas if some of these student accommodation units had been given to the housing list, particularly for single men and single women, I think that would have worked and would have made a big difference to housing lists. It is a question of that period of four months and what will happen to that accommodation. It could be left idle, but I doubt it because there is too big of a profit-making opportunity there.
Again, the business case for all these purpose-built student accommodation units allows for their usage over that number of months. It is a period of three or four months. It is actually more in some cases because one must take into account the Christmas period as well. Such accommodation is used by other students coming into the country from the higher education sector and other people who avail of our education facilities. Yes, in some cases Airbnb is used, but that is what they are there for. This is monitored through the planning system and controlled. The developers make applications through An Bord Pleanála and the local authorities and they must detail their full plans for those premises. It is not the same as providing housing for other families or for single people. This is specifically student accommodation, not permanent homes. Students' needs are a little different from everyone else's needs. The Deputy says we should build more homes for others. We are doing that as well. This is one section, one category. We are trying to approach this in many different ways and, again, the figures will show this is freeing up rental properties that are more suitable for others. There is no doubt about that. Naturally, given the changes made recently in the budget by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, we are trying to direct investment to other areas of residential accommodation and make that more affordable and more attractive. Many of the issues the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, deals with seek to encourage investment into other forms of accommodation for single men and other people who need that as well. There is activity there too, but this is specifically about student accommodation. It is a key area we have identified and we must provide more student accommodation.
First, they want it, but we also want to have it to free up other properties. On the issues around the communities, in most cases, in any of the new accommodation that is being built, there are good reports about student interaction with the communities. They have been asked to do it and that interaction with communities is being addressed in any of the planning applications.
