Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2017
4. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans with regard to the housing crisis (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52461/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt could be perceived that I possibly have a conflict with regard to the discussion on this question. The housing crisis and the associated problems are well known. We need to talk about solutions. How we can address these problems? What can we do on the ground to provide proper living facilities for people who are in crisis and are facing so much uncertainty in their living arrangements? I am dealing predominately with people who are on their own and need living units. I have heard it being discussed that the Government is considering the return of bedsits. There is nothing wrong with a bedsit if it is properly done. The main requirement I would have with regard to bedsits is that everyone is entitled to private bathroom and showering facilities, rather than shared facilities of the kind used many years ago. I do not want to see a return to that type of situation.
Arising from a commitment I gave in October, my Department established a technical working group to update national policy advice on apartment developments and to identify and assess innovative solutions to our current accommodation pressures over and above conventional housing and apartment developments. The work of this group is nearing completion and will feed into the publication of new statutory guidelines for planning authorities by the end of the year. This will clarify planning policy in the build-to-rent sector, including the scope for innovative shared accommodation models where residents have their own living accommodation and bathrooms but may share larger kitchen facilities and communal recreation, meeting and working areas.
Bedsits were permitted in the past, but we have now moved on to rental accommodation standards which require that residents can avail of their own toilet and washing facilities, as opposed to shared facilities. The number of bedsits has reduced significantly in recent years. I am considering how remaining units might be brought into use, while respecting modern standards. As the Deputy has pointed out, we need a broad range of housing solutions to meet the various aspects of our current housing challenges and the changing accommodation needs of people at different stages of their lives. We need to free ourselves from the mindset that everyone should live in a conventional three-bedroom house or self-contained apartment at every stage of their lives. We know that alternative models work in other cities. The work that is under way to update our guidelines is designed to provide a framework for such models to work in Ireland.
A small unit may be very comfortable and easy to maintain for a person living on their own, or a couple. What exactly is the Government proposing to do to reduce the guidelines nationally for the size required and actually encourage people to provide such units, which will be well ventilated, easy to heat and have nice modern bathrooms? People with mobility problems should also be considered, and those progressing such developments should always try to ensure that there is a balance to cater for people with medical issues.
This has been going on for months and there have been many delays. The Minister mentioned the end of the year. The Dáil is finishing next week, presumably. Can the Minister clearly state whether the guidelines will be published for the benefit of people who wish to provide such units? We have heard a lot of talk. This is a crisis. Will the Minister say if he is announcing the guidelines next week?
When we talk about what we are trying to do with the guidelines and standards for apartment development and new types of living we are not just talking about the immediate crisis. We are actually making sure that we can future-proof the growth of the country out to the 2040s. This ties in with the national planning framework which is being developed at the moment. It is my intention to make sure that these new standards are in place and that all the necessary assessments will have been carried out by the time the new planning framework is published. At the moment we are working towards the finalisation of the national planning framework, but we are also very close to publishing the new guidelines for apartment building. They will look at the 2015 guidelines as they currently stand and the changes that will be made, to cover things such as car parking spaces. The guidelines may also cover the size of apartments and the number of studio apartments in an overall development. Aside from those guidelines we are looking at build-to-rent guidelines, which is one of the new, innovative developments I spoke about which exist in other cities. We can have different guidelines in a build-to-rent sector because people are not buying these properties for life but are living in them for two or three years, or perhaps longer, which means that different requirements to those in operation for bought properties are possible.
On the specific issue raised by the Deputy in terms of the return of bedsits, people are worried because they are associated with low standards. Both the Deputy and I would agree that people should have access to their own exclusive washing and toilet facilities, and so what we are looking at as part of the guidelines is how we can achieve that in a different way to what has been done in the past. We are also looking at what role there might be for the repair and leasing scheme in terms of social housing. We will have those details very shortly.
I appreciate the Minister's response, but why is it that when a person becomes a Minister they find it more difficult to give a straight answer? The Minister spoke about the end of the year. Is he talking about next week? People want to work. They want to provide units. A lot of operations around this country are on hold. The pause button has been pressed, because everyone is waiting to see what the Government will do. I have been asking the Minister about this matter over a long period of time on behalf of people who are coming to me to say that they are ready to go and ready to put in a planning application, but who want to know under what constraints they will have to operate.
The Minister knows that when we are talking about housing we are talking about people who might come up from the countryside who get a job in Dublin. That person might be happy to live in a bedsit for a number of years until they are established and get up the rank a bit, save a bit of money and are able to provide different accommodation for themselves. It is all about using common sense. The outright ban on bedsits is wrong and it is costing us in terms of the provision of housing units which could be completed to high standards.
I believe people would be happy to live in a bedsit as long as they had exclusive access to their own washing facilities.
I agree.
To do that will require a change in the guidelines. I accept that we have had to take a brief pause here, but we are talking about the development of our country for the next 20 years and it is important that we get these new guidelines right, so that when they come into operation people will know exactly what the standards are and what they are building to for the next five, ten and 15 years. There is a huge amount of investment happening already. We know from our interactions with the private sector that there is a huge amount of interest in what the new guidelines will be, and that a potentially significant number of applications will come in off the back of those guidelines. The guidelines will be published very shortly. My hope is to bring something to Cabinet the week after next. I understand that since I announced this in October there has been a brief period of pause. I believe that people can wait a week or two more to make sure that we can get the right guidelines out and implement them in tandem with the publication of the national planning framework.
