Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2018
688. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the steps he is taking to maximise the use of State-owned lands to deliver affordable rental and purchase homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7355/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe active management of the publicly-owned housing land bank is a key part of a range of complementary actions being progressed under the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, designed to accelerate and increase housing output.
To this end, details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing Agency ownership were published on the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map, with the potential to deliver some 42,500 homes nationally. The map also includes details of some 300 hectares of land in ownership of other State or semi-State bodies, with the potential to deliver a further 7,500 homes. All of the mapped sites can be viewed at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/rebuilding-ireland-land-map/.
A new Affordable Purchase Scheme is being introduced. It will be governed by the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which will be commenced shortly. It will be targeted at households with annual gross income below €50,000 for a single applicant or €75,000 for joint applicants. The maximum discount permissible under the Act is 40% and the sale prices will vary, depending on costs, the discount given and other relevant factors.
Once the relevant legislative provisions are commenced, I will develop detailed regulations covering the operation of the Scheme, including the full eligibility criteria. The elected members of each local authority will then determine the order of priority for the sale of affordable homes to eligible households.
In addition, I am providing funding of €25 million over 2018 and 2019 for a targeted programme, where the local authority will make low-cost serviced sites available for affordable housing, within the parameters of the overall affordable purchase scheme that will be set down in Regulations. My Department is currently drawing up the criteria for access to this fund, taking account of broader policy on affordable housing, and will be seeking submissions from local authorities in the coming weeks.
The Government is also determined to make affordable cost rental a major part of the Irish housing system. Under this approach, rents are set at levels to recover construction costs and to facilitate the management and administration of developments. Accepting that this innovative concept will take time to test and deliver, a pilot cost rental project is currently being progressed in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, in conjunction with the Housing Agency and Approved Housing Bodies, on publicly-owned land. The pilot project is providing significant lessons to the State in terms of the delivery of cost rental and in parallel, discussions are ongoing with the European Investment Bank regarding experiences in delivering cost rental and other affordable models in other jurisdictions that could also work in Ireland.
The delivery of additional affordable homes, to buy or rent, will rely on the State developing the full potential of its residential land bank. In the context of my Department's role in driving and co-ordinating housing delivery, I am establishing a dedicated Residential Land Management and Development Group to oversee this important work.
I anticipate that there is significant potential for the delivery of affordable homes on local authority lands. Following on from the Housing Summit on 22 January, I have asked local authority Chief Executives to submit, in the coming weeks, an outline of their respective affordable housing programmes, with a particular emphasis on Dublin, Galway and Cork, where there is the greatest affordability gap. The overall scale of delivery, and timescales, will be informed by these responses.
